Husk Funeral
by Chris Kenworthy
Summary: With Courtney's help, the gang prepares to visit to Copper Summit and attack the Skins during Congresswoman Whittaker's funeral. Kyle's secret romance with Tess becomes more complicated, and Liz tells Alex about Future Max's visit and his death. Michael and Maria both flirt with new people. Isabel admits how much Alex matters to her. Sequel to 'Not Written Yet.'
1. Chapter 1

"So, allow me to recap," Alex said to Liz. "Max came back from fourteen years in the future, told you to break up with present-day Max and get him to fall in love with Tess, so the world wouldn't get invaded by bad guys in the future?"

"Yeah," Liz said.

"You didn't want to do it, and the more you dragged your feet the more unstable Future Max got, so you pumped him for details about what's coming, then ambushed him with a black five-sided alien gizmo, told him that his guilt issues weren't your problem, he wasn't thinking clearly, and you killed him with a gun you stole from Jim Valenti, then went off to party all night and next day with our Max, going to the Gomez concert in Santa Fe, and then back to the fortune teller, who told you that it's probably going to work out okay?"

"Kind of." Liz sighed. "At least I have a chance. But it's going to be tricky, since I don't want to let Max or the others know about this stuff yet. I'm afraid of how they'll react, but things are probably going to get sticky; I have to use this knowledge about the future to guide them without anyone getting so suspicious that I know everything before they do. So that's why I told you about it, because I'm going to need somebody's help - someone I can trust."

"And you're not sure that Maria's too stable lately, since she and Michael broke up over the Courtney thing," Alex said.

Liz turned to face him. "Are you okay with this? Tell me if you're not. I know that you were keeping your distance from Isabel, letting her make up her own mind without you crowding her, but we're going to have to spend a lot of time with the pod squad now, including her."

"That's easy for you to say," Alex muttered. "You and Max are back together."

"Except that I can't let Tess clue in yet," Liz sighed, starting to walk again. "It's not exactly an enviable position over here."

"Okay," Alex said, and thought for a moment. "What's the next important thing that's going to hit?"

"The Copper Summit skins are going to find out that Whittaker is missing." She sighed. "There's a letter from the 'Society of Friends' in her office... if she doesn't check in by tomorrow at midnight, they're presume that she's dead and go into cover-up mode. There's a spare husk for her; it's like a human spacesuit that these guys live inside, that they were growing because her husk was about to die. They'll use that as a 'body' and have a funeral service in Copper Summit."

"But she was a New Mexico congresswoman," Alex said. "She should have a state funeral here in Roswell, or somewhere in the second district. That would mean that these skins have to give up control of their 'body' and risk somebody discovering that it's hollow."

"I think that they'll find some way to run the whole show in Arizona." Liz shrugged.

"Well, Courtney will tell Michael about this stuff, right?" Alex said. "Once he confronts her, or she him. You should probably prod him into searching her apartment as soon as possible, so that he finds the photos."

"Yeah." Liz thought a second, and then asked a big question. "Do we want to do something with that letter? Before the deadline hits tomorrow night?"

Alex mulled that over. "I'm not sure I can see any reason why. Whittaker is dead, and her death **does** need to get covered up - the Skins would do us a favour if they take care of that. And from what you've told me, with the funeral service taking place just as the Harvest is just about to mature, there'll be all kinds of confusion in Copper Summit. It'll be a good opportunity for our guys to make a sneak attack, maybe." He sighed. "And we don't have Whittaker to produce anyway, so what could any of us tell them that would make them pay attention?"

Liz hesitated for a long time, debating, as she had already debated in her head dozens of times, whether to tell Alex this detail. In her heart, she really believed that there wouldn't be any harm in it. "The skins believe that Isabel used to be a traitor, way back when, you know. That Vilandra sold out her brother and the rest of the Royal Four. And Whittaker apparently thought that she could use this to get Isabel to switch sides. Future Max told me that that was why Whittaker took Tess, the night of Isabel's birthday party. She wasn't sure if it was Tess or Isabel who had been Princess Vilandra. Whittaker thought she could get Vilandra to betray Max again, and give her the granolith."

"Which Isabel didn't even find until after Whittaker died," Alex said, putting it together. "But Isabel could never..."

"No, of course not. Even Future Max stressed that point, that she'd always been loyal as long as he'd known her, and she'd used the 'Vilandra' angle to sucker the leader of the bad guys in and play him. But it gave me an idea." She took a deep breath.

"What if she pretends to be switching sides right now, to infiltrate the skins in Copper Summit? She could call and say that Whittaker convinced her, but Max or someone else killed Whittaker too soon, and she's been hiding her new true loyalties from everyone."

Alex pondered that notion for a long time. "No, it's an idea with some theoretical merit, but we couldn't make it work in time. Remember that Isabel hasn't confessed this Vilandra thing to _any_ of us. We'd have to tell her that we already know, and I'm not sure that she's ready to face the idea and turn it against an town full of enemy aliens. Not to mention the fact that Max and Michael would never go for it. And, even if it weren't for all of that, having her go undercover alone like that would be very dangerous... I think you'd better drop it."

"Okay." She sighed. "Well, I guess I should go and chat with Max and Michael."

"Have fun," he said. "I don't think I'll join you - having me around might just raise questions that we don't want them to think about."

"Okay."

#

Michael opened the door for the two of them, noticing how Liz took Max's hand quietly for a second as she passed through, and then slipped their fingers apart as if she was trying to hide the contact from Michael.

"So, you want to talk about Courtney?" Michael said, turning around to keep them in sight as they walked further into the apartment. "What about her, particularly?"

"Well..." Max looked a little uncomfortable. "Last I heard, you said that you were investigating her and we'd talk - today. About anything you'd managed to find out."

"And Alex let it slip that - Courtney came here, last night," Liz added. "So I thought maybe we'd better do it in person, and I hope you don't mind my tagging along... hey, has your window been busted like that for long?"

With an ungracious sigh, Michael told them the cliff notes version of his rendezvous with Courtney the night before - how Alex had taken it upon himself to punch Michael as soon as he realized that Michael was meeting with Courtney the same day that he'd broken up with Maria, how Courtney had bent over and looked at his bruised face with detached concern, how Michael, still upset at everything Maria had said to him that morning, had been unable to resist the impulse to kiss Courtney.

"And a thin layer of skin from her forearm came off in my hand. I just stared at her for a moment, remembering the dry skin that I found out in the desert, a few weeks ago, and she laughed at me - not mocking me, but as if she was looking forward to a game." Michael shook his head. "She ran faster than I'd ever seen anybody else move before - I tried to zap her, but she used some kind of alien mist to throw it off course. And she crashed through the window. By the time I looked out, she was gone."

There was a bit of awkward silence after Michael finished his story. "Is that it?" Max asked. "Has anything else happened?"

"Well, I told most of that," Michael explained. "I called the Evans homestead early this afternoon, but mommy said that Maxxie and Izzie were napping, so that was that. And, well, I've been trying to fix up the window, though I don't really have the right tools."

"You didn't do anything about Courtney directly?" Liz said. "You haven't tried to find her again, or gone to look at her apartment?"

Michael shrugged. "I thought that 'his Majesty' would want to know the scoop before allowing me to go and do such a thing, especially since I'd be challenging an alien agent who could overpower me if she tried."

Liz looked over at Max, and he didn't say anything, so Liz pushed the issue further. "Well, Max knows now, and in my opinion, it's really important for you to find out more about Courtney as soon as you can. Take some backup if you need to - Isabel or Tess... maybe."

Michael blinked in surprise, and then shot a look at Max. Max tried to catch Liz's eye, only to have her return the silent treatment. "Yeah, I guess it makes sense if you guys are careful. Maybe I should come along too. To shield and heal, as the need arises."

Liz froze. This wouldn't be a good idea, but she wasn't sure how to talk Max out of in. His future self had said that Courtney resented him, because as king he had lost everything, and had been much more comfortable when dealing with Michael only or with Michael and the girls.

Fortunately, Michael gave a good answer. "No, that's okay. Why don't you go up to the rocks with Liz tonight, show her the Pod chamber? Heck, maybe if the two of you start groping right next to the darn thing, you'll get a vision of what we can do with it, since nothing else seems to help. If that special 'soul mate connection' you two have could find an alien orb, out buried in the desert, there isn't much it can't do."

Max smiled. "I guess I don't need to tell you that Liz and I are back together."

"It's pretty obvious. I'm happy for you, but the universe's checks and balances are working pretty well. Maria and I cut loose, and you two have your grand reconciliation." There was an awkward silence. "Forget I said that."

Liz nodded. "And I think Max and I should hit the road again. Are you going to go to Courtney's tonight?"

"Yeah, just need to call and see who's available for backup duty first," Michael said. "Max, give me a ring tomorrow morning, and we can trade stories."

"All right," Max said. He seemed a bemused that Liz and Michael had left him out of the essentials of the conversation. "Take care, man."

"I intend to," Michael said.

On the way back to the car, Max shot a look at Liz. "What was that about? Suggesting that Michael snoop around Courtney's apartment?"

"It just seemed to make sense," Liz muttered. "Yes, it's risky, but Michael's no fool and knows how to cover his ass. I don't think Courtney really wants to hurt him. If she did, she probably would have by now, whether he knew that she was an alien or not." Max mulled that over.

"Think about it this way," Liz blurted out. "If some other crisis hit, say if we found out about some **other** alien agent that was nosing around, the first thing you'd tell Michael to do would be to track down Courtney and figure out what her story was, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And, it's safer to do that _now_, before the next dangerous situation comes to us. It's the same strategy; we're just getting our act together sooner instead of procrastinating."

Max shook his head as he climbed up into the seat. "How did you know I'd make that decision?"

Liz shrugged awkwardly. "If I don't know you by now, then what's the point of this past year?"

"Huh. I guess I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the hypothetical future like that... not when I could be enjoying the present." He stole a quick kiss before Liz buckled herself into the shotgun. "So, the rocks... you want to go see?"

"Sure." Liz didn't say that she was feeling of two minds about Michael's suggestion of 'groping right next to it.' On one hand, making out with Max was always great, and the sensation of touching a tiny part of his soul when their intimacy triggered a flash dwarfed the strictly physical and hormonal pleasure.

But, when she got flashes from Max, he would usually get flashes of her too, of her past or her thoughts, and there were quite a few things that she was not prepared to have him see. Not yet, while she wasn't sure how he would react or how small changes could affect the future that Liz was trying to build.

Maybe, if she kept a tiny part of the back of her mind focused on sealing off that stuff, or forced herself to think about other things, safer things... could she keep Max from seeing it? Well, maybe she would try. Or maybe the idea of a heavy make out session just to satisfy Michael's curiosity would put Max out of the mood.

She concentrated on enjoying the desert air as Max drove past the city limits sign.

#

"This way," Max said, holding out a hand to Liz and leading her to the left as soon as they got into the Pod Chamber.

"Wait a second," Liz said - not because she distrusted Max, but because there was something that she felt she needed to sort out for herself. "Isabel told me about finding the Granolith chamber, and she said that she crawled through one of the - well, the leftover spaces where one of your pods used to be." She waved over at the remains of the four pods that had held Max and the others for over forty years, deeper into the chamber.

"Yes, that's how she first found it," Max agreed. "You can crawl through that way if you want, but it's not the most comfortable route. Once we knew that there was more, we kept exploring, and there's a passageway through here that you don't have to get down on all fours for. Actually, it's possible that Isabel did something when she got in the first time that opened up this passage - Michael swears that if it was here during the summer, he'd have found it first."

Liz considered that as she let Max lead the way. "But he never tried crawling through the busted pods?"

"Nope, I guess his curiosity has limits," Max agreed, chuckling. Soon they'd passed through the narrow opening, and Liz could see the four empty spaces again, two beneath and two above - from behind, this time. There was a large rectangular door on the hallway opposite, and Max used his spread hand to open up the granolith chamber.

The inverted cone dominated Liz's eyes as it stood in the center of the room, refusing to give away its secrets. The more Liz stared at the thing, the more it seemed like a mathematical abstraction instead of an alien artifact, so she forced herself to look away.

There were a few risers and blocks, in the room, each more than two feet on a side. It was hard to tell if they were functional, decorative - or something else entirely. There was nothing that looked like a control interface, but then, the orbs didn't have a 'push here to start' button on them, and the healing stones hadn't come with directions. This alien stuff just seemed enigmatic by nature; as if the designers knew that extraterrestrial artifacts should be strange to the point of absurdity.

Liz cut off that train of thought, realizing that it could lead towards paranoia. "Umm... this may sound like a stupid question, but have you tried to find a handprint interface anywhere? You know..." She made a wide sweep through the air with her own outstretched right hand, trying to mimic the gesture that Max used to open the doors in the pod chamber, and that they had seen Tess use to find the hiding place of the destiny book in the public library.

"Yeah, as many places as I could think of," Max said with a wide smile. "I get the feeling that they're here, but I need to find some other key first before I can just home in on them - or have a better specific idea of where to look." He stepped closer to her, grinning. "Well, we're all alone here, and as much as I hate having to perform on cue, I also don't like to give up any excuse for a kiss."

She smiled shyly. "Well, I don't either. But it feels weird, don't you think?"

"Maybe you're just letting the pressure get to you," he whispered. "Close your eyes and I can make you forget about all this."

"Okay." Liz knew she was smiling as she closed her eyes, anticipating the kiss. She could hear Max step close, smell the mix of his aftershave and the very faint masculine fragrance which always struck her as uniquely Max. He had to be very close, and she was surprised that she couldn't feel him touching her.

Then she felt his hands, one pressing softly at the small of her back and the other near the back of her neck, fingers stroking her hair. His lips met hers with the impact of a semi ton tractor trailer barrelling down the interstate. Her arms wrapped around his without any decision on her part, just the kind of instinctive reaction that happens when you're about to fall, and she sank deeper into the kiss. His strong arms held her steady and...

**Flash!**

Liz **did** forget all about the granolith and the pod chamber for an instant, or at least she wasn't aware of where she was. She was walking into the cafe early in the morning, arm in arm with Max... kissing him before going inside, feeling the heavy orb hidden in his pocket.

She remembered the moment while still experiencing it... it was the morning after his kisses had given her strange flashes about the '47 crash and its aftermath, and following those hints, the two of them had uncovered the orb, buried underneath a radio tower out in the desert. They had been teasing each other, and seconds later they walked into an ambush arranged by their parents.

Fortunately Liz didn't endure a replay of that scene, as the flash ended just in time, and she was back in Max's arms with her eyes closed. "What did you see?" he whispered.

Liz told him, suddenly frightened because she hadn't even thought to try protecting the future-Max material from him. But Max said that he had only seen their first kiss, after the Sherriff had through her and Alex in jail the night of the old soap factory rave. That was a harmless memory, and romantic too.

"What do you think about trying for more?" His lips brushing her ear as he whispered the words.

Liz froze, torn by indecision. "I want to... but not on the bare floor here. I do have standards, you know mister!" That qualification had been the only delaying tactic that she could come up with.

"Well, I have a blanket back in the jeep," Max said, like a resourceful, prepared young Boy Scout. "It shouldn't take too long to run down and get it. Do you want to come with me, or stay here until I get back?"

Again, Liz hesitated. She wasn't eager to stay in this profoundly alien place without Max. On the other hand, she could use the time alone to prepare herself for the next round of flashes, putting up some kind of privacy shield about the parts of her mind she didn't want to let him into. "Yeah, hurry back." She flashed him as bright a smile as she could manage. "I'll be fine here."

Max kissed her sweetly, and then hurried out. She could hear the door mechanism for the Pod Chamber, letting Max out and sealing her in, and it was hard not to feel very lonely. Liz found one of the blocks that seemed about the right size and hiked herself onto it, then focused on some breathing exercises that she made up on the spur of the moment.

Trying to lock particular thoughts away seemed, now that she thought of it, like a contradiction, because there was no way of even knowing what she was locking away without thinking of it. It was almost exactly like the old chestnut about telling someone 'no matter what you do, don't think of a pink elephant.' Focusing on something else seemed like the better task, but it had to be something that Max wouldn't be upset or confused to realize that Liz was thinking of.

The flashes seemed to point a way. If she focused on happy memories of herself and her Max, from last year, would that work? Or would it be too short a mental jump from there to Future Max trying to take her future happiness away? Was that a leap that she could make without realizing it?

Still, this plan seemed to be the only one that she could try. Liz started thinking about her favourite moments of Max... which got her as excited as if he were actually here. Oh well - at least she had a plan now.

It was several minutes before she heard the door mechanism going again, and Liz was waiting for Max as walked into the Granolith room - she waved one hand and kissed him hard. It was nearly a minute before he was able to break away for long enough to get the blanket properly spread out on the cold, hard floor.

#

"I'm really sorry."

Kyle looked up from the book he'd been reading without moving his head. Tess was poking her head into the living room from the kitchen side, wearing an expression so woebegone it was begging anybody to adopt her - but then, Kyle's family had already taken her in.

He tried to make his voice as gruff as he could. "Okay, let's hear the excuse."

"Does Michael Guerin count as an excuse?" She walked into the room, trying to give him even cuter puppy-dog eyes. "He literally dragged me away from my dinner plate at the diner to go and search the apartment of that psycho waitress girl who's been sniffing around him for the past few months, and lately, vice versa." She collapsed with a very believable groan into the desk chair. "And of course, I couldn't exactly tell him that I couldn't come because you were waiting in my old bedroom to pour chocolate sauce and honey on me for dessert... at least I didn't want to tell him. Michael would have loved to hear it."

Kyle tried not to commit himself. "So why did Guerin go stalker-boy? I mean, I've seen Courtney - she's not that cute."

"It wasn't a hormone thing," Tess said, taking off her sweater. Kyle couldn't keep his eyes from straying to the low neckline of whatever she was wearing underneath, and Tess didn't seem to notice his eyes straying. "Apparently, she's one of us, except not. You know what I mean - one of the alien 'skins' that Ed warned Max about before he died."

She leaned forward, and a glint in her eye told Kyle that she knew exactly what that gesture did for her cleavage. "And let me tell you, I used the term 'psycho' deliberately. She had this incredibly creepy shrine to Michael Guerin in one of her closets... There was an old t-shirt, some other stuff that she swiped from him, and all kinds of pictures taken across the street from his apartment. I think it's fair to say that 'stalker' is appropriate on _that_ side of the coin. We found her hideout apartment; the place looked like a dump, but she wasn't there. He said he was going to go back later, and I told him to shanghai someone else to come along. So... do you forgive me for standing you up unintentionally? How long did you wait for me?"

"I just got back about fifteen minutes ago," Kyle said. "And - 'where there is no intention, there is no offense.' If you could have come, without blowing the secret, you would have. I know that. I'm disappointed, sure, but I don't hold it against you now. I'll just have to find some way to pay Guerin back."

Tess smiled. "Well, it's too late to go back to the love nest or go out parking... Where's your dad anyway?"

Kyle grinned. "He got called in because there was a body discovered - or something like that. He probably won't be back for hours... what do you say we try it here?"

Tess stood up and shook her hips back and forth; her pants fell to the floor. "Try and stop me, lover."

#

resume hereIsabel grumbled under her breath as Michael led her along. "Why did you make me park so far away?"

Michael shrugged. "If she's there and waiting for me, I want to get to the building without being spotted. She's sure to notice if we drive up and get out in front of either building."

"All right," Isabel said. "Which one is hers?"

Michael pointed to a ratty looking apartment walk-up, three stories high, nearly opposite from his own complex. Isabel stayed quiet as Michael headed inside, up the stairs, and down the hallway to 214. A sweep of his hand in front of the doorknob opened the lock, and the door swung open silently, without anyone touching it.

Isabel looked about in distaste at the crappy little apartment. "Nobody's been here for a year."

Michael nodded. "That's the way she wants it to look. But over here by the window, I found little patches of skin that hadn't disintegrated yet, plastic wrapping from a roll of camera film, and an empty bag of those red-hot chips she's always popping. Plus, the view from this window to my apartment is exactly the same in all the pictures."

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Isabel groaned. "So what do we do if she shows up?"

"You go into warrior princess mode while I try to intimidate her?" Michael said. That earned him a nasty look.

Isabel paced a little and wondered whether she should try talking to Michael about what was really on her mind. "While I was away, did Alex talk to you or anything?"

"Well, he dropped by to chat about the Courtney/Maria situation, but generally he stayed away from," Michael said. "You might want to ask Max; I saw them together a couple times."

Isabel looked for someplace to sit down, rejected all of the likely candidates on hygienic grounds, and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"He called me, tonight. We talked for a few minutes, and then I went out and took a walk by myself. That's why you couldn't get ahold of me, when you wanted to go to Courtney's real apartment, earlier in the evening." She sighed. "It was nice to catch up with Alex, but something seemed different about him. Like he was, I don't know... **reserved**. Alex has never been reserved, as long as I've known him."

"Maybe he's had enough of you jerking him around, telling him you're not ready to be interested in anyone and then flirting with older men right in front of him. Maybe, just maybe, Whitman's decided to suck it up and be a man." Isabel's mouth dropped open. "Who'd have thought it." Michael finished.

It took a moment for Isabel to collect her thoughts. "Is that really what you think I do to him?"

"That's what it looked like from here." Michael shrugged, and caught her eye with as sympathetic an expression as Isabel could ever remember seeing from him. "Look, I know you didn't mean it. But... all four of us, we've gotten used to living inside our own heads. There's so much that we're keeping inside, that we feel like we need to keep secret... we don't spend much time seeing the world from anybody else's perspective. So we don't think about the stuff we do, in terms of how it looks to the people that we care about, or to the other people that care about them." He moaned, very quietly. "Maria reminded me about that not long ago."

Isabel thought about that for a second. In the silence, they could both hear footsteps coming up the hall. Without a word spoken, Michael and Isabel turned to face the door, he with a hand held up at about shoulder level, Isabel with her right arm crossed over her body to the left side, ready for a backhand gesture with which she could focus some telekinetic power.

The door swung open, and they could both see Courtney Brooks, her hand still on the doorknob. She was wearing baggy jeans, old sneakers, and a long, heavy shirt. Tonight she'd pulled her blond hair up into a fluffy ponytail. "Michael... Isabel. We have to talk."


	2. Chapter 2

Michael nodded, but didn't let down his guard... and he kept a bolt of energy ready to shoot at a moment's notice. "You want to talk, Courtney? Then talk."

"Not like this, thanks." She narrowed her eyes, and several bright sparks emerged from Michael's palm as the energy he had been keeping ready drained away. Isabel realized that something had gone wrong and whipped her hand around, sending a wave of kinetic force out, but Courtney made a small gesture with her left hand that reduced the crest of the wave, so she was able to keep her feet as it passed over her. "Now, I came here to talk to you like civilized extra-terrestrials," Courtney continued. "If you don't trust me, I can leave. If you want to hear what I have to say, then don't leave your powers running hot. It's rude."

"Okay." Michael stepped back and sat on an abandoned crate. Courtney smiled and took a chair - the one that Isabel had soundly rejected a few minutes earlier. Isabel considered standing over both of them, and then scuffed a patch of floor clear with her powers, and sat down, her knees pointing up in front of her.

"You'll excuse us for being cautious," Michael said. "The only other aliens here on Earth that we know of are supposed to be enemies. One of them nearly killed Isabel and Tess... well, you remember our discussion about Vanessa Whittaker, don't you Courtney?" He smiled. "I didn't actually get in touch with her stepson, but I suspect he's never heard of you. I did find out on the internet that two years ago, he was making the dean's list at Princeton... right around the time you said he was screwing up his life with drugs."

Courtney smiled. "Actually, he damn well better remember me. I **did** spend time with him, trying to find out a few things about Vanessa's plans, and she wasn't pleased when she found me. All the stuff about drugs and jail, I made up. So - you thought the only other aliens on Earth were Kivar's goons?"

"Kivar," Isabel repeated. "Is he the leader of... of whoever overthrew the royalty? Of our enemies?"

"Very good, princess!" Courtney said. "Kivar screwed the royals over every way he could... inciting the people to riot, spreading sedition through the military, bribing and subverting the king's intimates. He took power in the coup, and calls himself President, but doesn't even pay lip service to the idea of the republic. Not many like Kivar, but his cadre is loyal out of gratitude and crude self-interest, and the bastard is canny enough to have rooted out every plot to throw him under the wheels of a new revolution."

"Okay, that's enough background detail," Michael said. "Where do you fit in? You talk like you hate Kivar - because you believe in a republic, not a dictatorship? Is that why Nasedo didn't tell us about you?"

"Well, there were five of us who infiltrated the Copper Summit mission to earth." Courtney said. "Some of the others have been found out and killed. At least one more is still alive."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Michael said. "Just what was your plan?"

"Well, we're here to support you, Michael - or at least, that's what we'll do if you've got the balls to take charge this time around."

#

The phone rang five times before Liz managed to climb out of bed enough to answer. "Hello?"

"Good morning, my dear." It was Max. "Do you want to make plans for today?"

Liz thought about that a moment. "Have you heard from Michael?"

"No, I haven't. Does that make a difference?"

Liz bit her tongue. Once Michael had talked to Courtney, everything would change, and it might be happening already. But Max didn't want to hear that yet. "No, I was just curious. Don't know if I'm interested in anything fancy today... I could catch the bus out to your place."

"Why wait for the bus? I can run out and pick you up."

"It's no bother, really. I don't have to wait long if I time it right."

"Okay. Any idea when you'll be ready to come out?"

"I'll probably take at least an hour." She yawned. "Yeah, can I go and start getting ready and give you a ring when I'm closer to finishing my morning stuff?"

"Sure," he told her, and then there was a double-beep on the line. "I think that's Michael, so if you're curious you can stay on the line. It shouldn't take too long."

"Alright." Liz cradled the phone between her head and shoulder, got out of bed, and starting to gather some clothes.

Max hit the switch button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Maxwell," Michael said. "Any luck up at the pod chamber with Liz?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. I saw something that might be relevant, but it's a little confusing because..."

"Okay, I've stopped caring now. There's big news on the Courtney front. We've made first contact."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, hang up the phone and get your ass downtown," Michael snapped. "Meet us at Whittaker's office. Give Isabel a ride too."

"I need more info here," Max insisted. "Who's 'us'? Did Courtney actually tell you she's a friend?"

"She's not friends with you, but she won't attack you either," Michael said. "She told Isabel and me a bit last night, and said she'd answer a lot more questions today. She's not on our side, but she's definitely not one of the bad guys either. Call her a wild card for now... the sort of third party that always makes politics interesting."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Max said. "And I'm inviting Liz over too. She's got good ideas for questions to ask any alien that would give us a straight answer." In the back of Max's head, it registered that Liz was expecting this. He'd have to ask her about that.

"Yeah, fine, whatever. I'll call Tess. Do you want to drag the other human kids in too?"

"They're involved in this mess too... but I won't insist on anybody inviting Maria. Tell Tess to bring Kyle along if he wants to come, and I'll make sure that Alex knows."

"Whatever. Bye, Max." The line clicked off, and Max switched back to Liz.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Liz said. "Was almost ready to take a shower."

"Now that's a pretty mental picture."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. My clothes are back on now, I'm so sorry. What's the word from Mister Guerin?"

"He called a meeting - most of the rest of the gang, plus Courtney. They'll be in Whittaker's office. Can you get there soon? I'll meet you."

Liz smiled to herself. "Yeah, as soon as I'm clean, clothed, and fed."

"I have to go get ready myself. Love you."

"Love you too."

#

Michael was the first to arrive. He checked to make sure that no-one was paying attention to him, and waved his hand over the deadbolt lock to open it. Then he found a place to sit down and wait.

It was only two minutes before the door opened again, and when Michael looked up he saw Courtney standing in the entrance, giving him a reassuring smile. She was dressed in a long denim skirt and a black shirt.

"No-one else here yet, Mike?" she asked casually, taking a look at the room and sitting on a filing cabinet across from him.

"No," he agreed, trying not to any nervousness about that. Twice, now, Courtney had demonstrated that she could beat him on alien powers, whether it was on account of natural talent or better training. But she didn't seem to be threatening at the moment, so he did his best to relax. "Max, Isabel, and Liz should be here soon. I called Tess too."

"Liz," Courtney repeated slowly. "She's human, not one of you, right? Did she find out the secret after the shooting in the cafe last year?" She shrugged off the stare Michael was throwing at her. "Come on, I did as much homework as I could, especially after Whittaker hired Liz as her gofer. There wasn't much I could find out about it in the public record, but since I guessed the Antarian king would still have healing powers, I was able to add a few things together."

"Alright, yeah." Michael sighed. "Max saved her life... and all of us had an interesting year because of that."

Courtney pondered that for a moment. "You're wondering what I meant last night, aren't you?" she asked. "About how I was on **your** side specifically... or I might be."

Michael shrugged as casually as he could manage. "It's crossed my mind. Why me? As far as we know, I royal by birth like Max or Isabel. Even Tess was formally Queen by marriage. I'm the last one you'd pick as leader."

"It wasn't because you were so close to the Royals," Courtney said. "Way back when, trouble was just starting to brew at the Planetary Court. I ended up aligned with the moderate republicans who agreed that power and authority should move from the crown to the people. None of us believed that Kivar was the right man to create a new Government. He was just interested in power for its own sake, and used republican ideology as a weapon against the status quo."

"So we threw a lot of names around and yours... well, Roth, which was your name back then, came up and gradually emerged as the favourite. You were an honourable and determined man... not unusually clever or diplomatic, maybe, but smart enough to listen to the best advisors available and hire competent help. Everyone except the extreme hardliners in Kivar's and Xam's camps would have accepted you as a compromise. We could have avoided the whole stupid war, but... Roth refused to step up to the plate. He deliberately walked over to stand beside the King as a show of loyalty, humiliating us, and so the peace failed. Kivar launched an attack and had the four of you killed. The royal supporters saved your essence and shot it over here for new bodies. The war dragged in other worlds, one by one, and that's how things stand now. Everybody's sick of it."

Michael blinked in surprise and shook his head. "So now you're calling on me again? You want me to gently push Max aside, for the greater good?"

Courtney took a breath. "Yeah, I am. We have another chance. It won't be as easy this time, after Kivar has had so long to consolidate supporters. But there are a lot of people who are just waiting for a chance to break away from him. If you declared for a confederated opposition, they'd follow you."

"Well, I'll think about it," Michael said. There was an awkward pause. "Okay, I have a question," he continued a moment later. "What's the whole deal with the shedding about? Is that why Nasedo called you 'skins'? I mean... if it's a freakishly personal thing that you can't talk about-"

"You're nothing like what I expected," Courtney commented, and he shrugged. "I guess there was no-one else to tell you about stuff, huh? Okay, do you understand about yourself, how you guys were re-engineered as human/Antarian hybrids, so that you could grow up nearly like normal humans, and blend in?"

"Yeah, we got that part down pat," Michael assured her.

"Okay, well, we couldn't go through that, because you have to die, and nobody wanted that. Also it's very expensive and took a lot of expert assistance." She stretched her limbs for a moment.

"We've had genetic engineering on Antar for centuries now, and one of the oldest applications is making life-forms to protect us from hostile environments. In English, you can call them husks."

"To hunt you down on Earth, Kivar had a special kind of husk created, designed to protect Antarians from the kind of crap that human beings pour into the air. Also to provide us with a few trace elements that we need to breathe, and to disguise us as humans. The husk is what you see when you look at me - well, the husk and clothes. The real me is hidden underneath that layer."

"As far as the 'shedding,'" Courtney continued, "that's not a usual thing. My husk is dying... all of them are. This model is good for just under 50 earth years, and we grew our batch in 1950, while we were en route to Earth."

Michael thought about that, and shifted in his seat. "But if your husk is dying, then you won't be able to survive... unless there's a protected air supply you can hide out in." He considered again. "I guess Kivar's people won't be a danger for long, either."

Courtney shook her head. "It's not so easy. The skins in Copper Summit are making a new batch of husks. A perfect copy of each one, based on the original designs, except for anybody they know has died in the meantime. All of their field agents are heading back to Arizona now, to get a 'body' that will last them for another fifty years. They've even made one for me, though I'll have to submit to debriefing by their leader before I get it, and he'll be trying to find out if I'm really am a double agent. Whittaker sent him a report incriminating me when I was trying to use her stepson to find out her plans."

"Maybe you'd better start at the beginning," Max said, as he opened the door further and came in, Isabel close behind him.

"Eavesdropping is rude, your majesty," Michael pointed out.

Max just shrugged. "I heard a few interesting things when I checked to see if anyone was already inside here. I didn't really want to cut off that last speech for a moment."

Michael sighed. "Max, you know Courtney of?" Max nodded his head, and Courtney made a tiny ambiguous waving gesture.

The silence became awkward. " I'd rather not start repeating stuff until everybody is here, okay Max?" Michael continued. Max looked at him, shrugged slightly, and went to take a seat. "Courtney and I were just chatting idly to fill the time."

"Okay," Max sighed. "It shouldn't be too long now."

#

"Okay, I guess we'd better settle this one." Michael stood up, nodded at Max, and then turned to face Courtney, who was still lounging on top of the filing cabinet. Liz, Tess, and Alex had arrived by this point, and Tess brought news that Kyle didn't want to deal with 'alien doo-doo'.

"I am not declaring myself as a candidate for leader of the home world," Michael said. "None of us really understand enough to take a position on alien politics, beyond doing what we need to do to stay alive. When we make a decision, whatever it may be, we're going to do it as a group. Until then..." He looked around, and took a deep breath. "For now, Max is my choice to be leader. He's got what it takes, demonstrated repeatedly."

"So, now, Courtney, what's **your** choice? Are you with us, against us? Or are you just going to get out of town and leave us alone?"

Courtney laughed softly. "Well, I need someone to watch my back, and I've burned my bridges with Kivar and his lackeys." She stood up and made a very vague saluting motion. "So I'm joining the team if you'll have me. I'll even follow his Royal Majesty's orders."

"Thanks," Max said. "Why don't you start by telling us about the key people in Kivar's organization on Earth?"

"Well, I only really know about my own mission, to Copper Summit." Courtney walked over and took a seat on the sofa between Tess and Alex. "There were other missions to Earth, using the skins, but I'm not sure where they landed or when. We were the first wave and the largest."

"Starting in the obvious place, there's Greer. He's the leader of the Universal Friendship League, which handles all official correspondence between Copper Summit and the rest of the country. They thought the name wouldn't ring alarm bells. Greer's a capable administrator and a mean drill sergeant. His powers aren't anything special... molecular probing, sustained energy projection... but he does have one trick up his sleeve that's rare and annoying. He can create a mental distraction field - that makes it hard to remember where anything is, who your friends are, what you're trying to do. There are ways to fight off the effects - I'll show you if we have time.

"The key person," Courtney continued after a few seconds, "won't look impressive. He's one of Kivar's closest henchmen, and he isn't an Antarian like us, but a Breeolyn... from one of the four nearby inhabited worlds. That means that he's smaller than most humans or Antarians, and the only design for a Skin that they could get to fit him was for an eleven-year old boy." Somebody let a snicker escape. "It's not really funny... Nicholas was mean long before he came to Earth, but being trapped in the body of a 'pre-pubescent' for so long has multiplied his bad temper nine-fold. I wouldn't want him mad at me."

There was quiet that lasted for a few seconds. "What powers does he have?" Tess asked.

"All of the basics, with a lot of energy to put behind them. Telekinetics, molecular manipulation, directed energy attacks, mindwalking and mindwarping, shields. Also, there's something that he learned directly from Kivar... something that the old king declared forbidden knowledge. I think that what made Kivar start to plot against the throne.

"Nicholas can touch anybody and search through their memories. Ransack their brain, going wherever he pleases. No mental defence lasts for long against this technique. If and when he finds something that he's interested in, he can tear it out of your thoughts, so completely that you hardly remember it yourself. If he does that to the same person enough times, that can be deadly... and I can't think of a death more painful. They call it 'the mind rape.'"

Isabel shuddered. "Okay, we'll try to steer clear of Nicholas if we can," Michael said. "Who else?"

Courtney sighed. "The Crawfords are probably still important - their cover is as Nicholas' parents - and Vanessa Whittaker's. Walt Crawford is the league Archivist. He doesn't have impressive powers, but his memory is photographic. He's probably memorized everything in records about the Royal Four, just in case it'll help him recognize you."

"Ida Crawford is dangerous in a more direct way. She's one of the best trackers in Copper Summit, and has firepower to match. Nicholas uses her as an assassin - because few would suspect a friendly grandmother type as capable of cold blooded murder."

"There are lots of other people around who are dangerous, but those are the most critical individuals. No matter who you meet in Copper Summit, be careful - your life is already in danger." Courtney let that line hang in the air for a long moment, apparently figuring that it was as good an end to her briefing as any.

Max weighed the info for a moment. "Thank you. With your help, we know a lot about them and their setup, but we're still a mystery to them, and that's good for us. If any of us tried to go in and recon, we'd probably end up giving away more than we learned."

"On the other hand," Michael said, "this Harvest is a tactical opportunity we're probably not going to get again. If we can manage to pull off a lightning raid while they're all busy with the memorial service... charging in, taking Courtney's husk, and torching the rest of them, the advantage would be enormous. They'd all die when their skins start to fail."

"Yeah, I thought about that." Courtney stood up again and started to pace. "There are a few problems with that plan that you should hear about before you make a decision. First off, they're not stupid enough to leave the husks unguarded this close to the harvest... they don't need everyone in town at the funeral. Maybe Nicholas will be leading the security detail himself. Secondly, they're not going to die as soon as you'd like - unless you really want a hundred killer aliens with nothing to lose to have enough time to plan a counterattack."

"And - I don't think they'll all die. Nicholas is paranoid as a lifestyle choice... he'll have another Husk growing in a secure location, one that we'll never find in time. Maybe he has more than one. There might be duplicates for Greer and a few other key players."

Courtney looked around at her new allies. "I think that you can do this. Maybe you can even do it smart, and live to see the sun come up when it's over. But there are things you're going to need to learn, and maybe things you have to let go of, first. Like the idea that you're regular high school kids who don't matter to the world. Nicholas and his people in Copper Summit are an army. You're going to have to become one too, if you want to beat them."

Max sat down and sighed. "We know. We've been through battles before. The 'high school kid' thing is a luxury that we like to indulge - when I can. This isn't the time for it. But to talk about winning at any cost... does it sound naive to say that I'd rather work out some compromise with the enemy than fight to destroy them?" He looked over at Courtney, addressing the question to her.

"Not... necessarily," she said. "It's a very noble sentiment in both senses of the word, and not foolish as long as you realize it might not be possible." She paused a moment. "But testing the water with diplomacy might mean giving up a tactical advantage."

"Yeah," Michael chimed in. "That'ss the sort of hard decision that a king has to make, Max."

"What do you think the chances are of a compromise with Nicholas?" Liz asked Courtney. "You know them, and none of us do."

Courtney took a second to think. "Slim to none. Nicholas takes his orders from Kivar, and Kivar is a power-hungry SOB who knows that his best route to staying in control is to have all of you dispatched as messily as possible. Plus, Nicholas has his own axe to grind against... the people you used to be. Then again, I'm biased... I'd love to see the whole lot of them blasted to kingdom come."

"Then, I want to look into offering a truce," Max said. "Without giving away more than we can help, or showing weakness."

"I might be able to help there, on a technical end," Alex suggested. "Route a phone call through Finland and make it impossible to trace. I can even jerry-rig something to disguise your voice."

Max smiled. "Get on it."

"The rest of us should be training with Courtney, and Tess," Michael said. "They know more than we do about using our powers to fight with, and that's something we'll need... unless the bad guys surrender right away."

Max groaned, but Liz grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Before Alex left for the electronic supply store, Liz pulled him aside in the parking lot. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I understand what you said about it being difficult to guide events without anybody realizing," he whispered back. "Well, what FM said backs Courtney up; peaceful coexistence is out. We'll make the minimum effort necessary, put Max's conscience at ease, and be very careful about giving anything away."

Liz nodded. "Everything depends on Tess and Courtney teaching our guys how to fight." She sighed. "The blonde will be leading the blind."

Alex groaned.

#

Michael nodded at Courtney in the outer reception area of the office. "Okay, no time to start like the present. Teach me how you short-circuited me last night, and then show me the counter-move for it."

She thought about it for a moment. "Okay, that's a little basic, but it makes sense as a place to start. Call up some power, and hold it ready for a blaster bolt or whatever you were trying to do back then. Just wait so I can demonstrate something."

Michael shrugged and brought his right hand up, focusing his powers and pretending he was about to destroy the lamp on the desk, which seemed the most deserving available. Then he held the energy back at the last moment, as he had in Courtney's spy-spot.

She smiled. "Okay, that's right. You've got a lot of power held up in a small part of your body... it's just crammed in there. You should be able to feel it in your other hand, but you're not letting the energy flow though your body, because it would drain away if you did. The vibes are radiating through the air. Can you tell what I mean? Can you **feel** it?"

"Yeah, actually." Michael nodded. "It makes the hair on my skin stand on edge, a bit like static electricity."

"That's it," Courtney confirmed. "Now let it drain away." Michael took a breath, and shuddered all over as the power flooded his system and slowly ebbed away, going nowhere in particular. Courtney smiled and deliberately took the exact same pose as Michael had used, her legs spread just a little, one in front of the other, her left hand held down near her waist and the other up in a vaguely comical attack gesture. But Michael's breath caught when he sensed Courtney building up an energy reserve in that hand.

"Okay, try the same thing now," she said. "There's no reason that you can't feel the leakage of my energy the same way you could your own... it's just passing through the air."

"Way ahead of you," he said. "I can totally feel it."

"Getting closer," she suggested. "Explore the energy field... get to know it as well as you like. That'll make the next step easier." So, feeling a little foolish, Michael moved nearer as Courtney stood as still, moving his hands around her outstretched arm, feeling the different ways the trace of energy was leaking through the air, how it was slightly dimmer close to her forearm, where the power was bound to keep it draining back into her body.

"Okay, I think I've learned all I can for now," he said after two minutes.

"Yeah. Well, if you can leak your own energy, and you can sense mine... send a thread of your energy through the air, and make it interfere with mine."

Michael's jaw dropped. "Just like that?"

"It should be easy, unless you're not as far along as I thought you were," she joked. "You can send huge blasts of energy through the air, to move things or destroy them. Try sending just a little bit. Try doing to me the same thing I did to you before."

Michael thought about that, opened up his hand, palm up, and concentrated. After a long moment, he felt as if he could sense... not a narrow thread, but - an invisible snake of energy? Yeah, that fit, he decided. Blind and deaf, the snake crawled through the air at his command, and nudged Courtney's finger. There was a silent _buzz_ of feedback that Michael felt all the way down to his toes, but Courtney's power stayed where it was. So Michael nudged the snake around to her forearm, where she was keeping the energy bound up, and made it push up towards her hand, to compress the energy much more.

Sparks of blue light exploded from Courtney's hand, and she mumbled under her breath, shaking her fingers through the air.

"Not bad! You'll make it through alien kindergarten yet." She snickered as the look of triumph on Michael's face fell instantly. "Well, no, that wasn't fair... you're well into grade school now. Okay, you know how to do that. Got any guesses on how to keep me from doing it again?"

Michael thought a long moment, and then smiled. "Bring it on."

"Okay, make your move," she told him. Michael lifted his right hand up one more time and built a power charge. Courtney nodded, and started to extend her own 'snake' - much thinner and quicker than Michael's, but serving the same purpose. Michael worked quickly on his defence.

The head of Courtney's snake butted against an invisible wall, the defensive perimeter that Michael had created with an effort of will. Try as it might, it could not get through.

"Very good," Courtney said. "Then again, you could have just done this." She took the attack posture herself, but didn't build up any power. Michael frowned, not sure what to do. So he waited... and Courtney fired off an energy bolt and shattered a glass duck n the bookcase behind him.

"Building up that much power in one part of your body is a limiting technique anyway," she told him. "Getting in touch with your body and mind, so that you can summon your energy at any moment is your next grade."

"Noted." Michael sighed. "Can I take a Snapple break first, Miss Brooks?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, might as well. Max and Isabel will probably need to play catch-up before they can join the class."

#

"Okay," Alex said, as Max and Courtney looked around the den at the surprising amount of electrical and electronic equipment rigged up in the room. "My computer is cued to dial a series of routing numbers that will take your signal through five different locations before patching it through to the Friendship League in Copper Summit. Once I place the call the two of you are going to have to stay perfectly quiet. I'll use the voice modulator to talk, and everything that's said on both lines will be played on the speakerphone over there." He chuckled. "Any last-second notes?"

Max thought a second, and shook his head. "Take your time and speak confidently," Courtney suggested. "You have a tendency to blurt everything out in a big rush when you get excited... you were doing it just now." She smiled. "But if you let that get out of hand, it's not going to project the right impression."

"Confident and patient." Alex smiled. "Check." He took a deep breath, nerving himself, and hit the 'Enter' button on his PC. The touch-tone sounds from the speakerphone took a long time to finish, then there were a few quiet clicks, and two rings. "Hello?"

Alex brought the voice modulator to his face. "This is the Universal Friendship league." It was a statement, but followed by "Correct?" His voice sounded odd on the speakerphone... deeper and more resonant than usual, with some other change that Max couldn't put his finger on.

"Who is this?" The other voice was a man's, reserved in tone, giving nothing away.

Alex chuckled. "Would you be T Greer, the co-ordinator?"

The man on the other end choked with indignation. "May I ask what business you have with the league? We are a private organization..."

"I will tell you this once only," Alex said, his tone intense and serious even before it was modulated. "The Royal Four have selected me to deliver this message. They know that you are plotting to destroy you. Will you lay down your arms and parley honestly to seek the peace? The alternative is to defend yourselves against their attack, because the king will not suffer himself to be hunted as a little rabbit." Courtney raised one eyebrow as the rolling tones of the threat echoed away.

"You, you..." Max thought that he could hear a faint spluttering. "Tell the washed-up has-been that it matters not if he runs away from his fate or towards it. The royal four are outnumbered and friendless. We will not listen to their threats and cannot agree to a truce in any event. Our own lives would be forfeit."

"I do not think it is the usurper that you should be afraid of, Mister Greer," Alex said. "But so be it. Your message will reach those who should hear it."

The line went dead. Alex set his own extension down, and the speaker cut off. "What do you think, old has-been?"

Max shrugged. "You may have been too confrontational, but it doesn't really matter. Peace isn't possible." He took a deep breath. "You're right, Courtney. We have to attack first and strike decisively."

She nodded and the corners of her mouth turned up. "All right, your majesty. Hopefully by the memorial service, you and your friends will be able to join in the fight."


	3. Chapter 3

Tess looked around, leaned against the outside wall of the beauty parlour, and dialled her cell phone. It rang twice.

Sitting at his father's desk, Kyle pulled out his own cell and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey. Sorry it took so long to get back to you," Tess said.

"What the heck is going on down there?"

"Extra-terrestrial shit," she whispered. "Just like you said this morning. The less you know about details, the better."

"And what if I don't want to be kept in the dark?" Kyle blurted out. "It's dangerous?"

"Deeply dangerous, and none of your business."

"Yeah, well, I've had enough stuff that was none of my business forced on me. I get to butt in this time, whether it makes sense or not!"

Tess thought about it. "Does this sudden interest in inhuman politics have anything to do with our arrangement? Because that wasn't part of the deal, that you'd get all earth boy macho and put yourself in danger to protect me."

"Not everything going on between us is stipulated in the oral contract," Kyle pointed out. "Since things started between us... it matters to me, what happens to you. That's allowed, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and I care about what happens to you too Kyle. But you can't protect me from this stuff. You'd only put yourself in danger. That's why I want you well away."

"I'm not sure that's true," Kyle said. "I mean, sure, I don't have super-powers like you and all your privileged friends. But last year, Liz and the others, they were able to help out. I can do as much."

"Are you sure you're ready for that, Kyle?" Tess' voice was challenging him. "Ask Liz what it was like when she got kidnapped last spring. What it felt like for her, when we were driving back to Roswell, knowing that the special unit had taken Max prisoner because he came to save her. Ask her about being the getaway driver when your Dad came to help us break Max out of an air force medical base." She took a deep breath. "Once you've heard all that, you'll have a notion of what it means to get involved in this stuff and try to protect me." And she cut the connection, as Kyle absorbed her words.

#

Alex hung back as far as he could while making sure that Michael was in sight. He knew that Max had only made him Michael's 'rear guard' to let him feel better, but Alex didn't care. There wasn't much chance that someone would come up behind them, but he knew what to do if they did.

Michael wasn't moving now - he seemed to be watching something further ahead, which Alex couldn't see. After a moment, Michael waved, and Alex realized that it was a signal to him, to come forward and rendezvous for a consultation.

Alex concentrated on moving quickly and quietly, and once he was near Michael came back to meet him. "Two of them there - defending their base camp. The tough one must be on the offensive against us, which means Max is in trouble."

Alex nodded, and crept along behind as Michael led the way, until they were at a good vantage point. In a clearing among the trees, a pole had been set up with a pink rag hanging from it. Around the clearing, Isabel and Liz were prowling restlessly, clearly waiting for the boys to attack their flag.

Alex moved back again, so that they could talk without the girls hearing. "Any ideas?" he asked.

"How do you feel about being a decoy?" Michael asked. "Make some noise in the trees without showing yourself; try to get Isabel to chase after you. She won't hurt you, and if we can get her to leave Liz alone with the flag..."

Alex smiled. "I'll do my best, captain."

"Okay, give me two and a half minutes to get ready before starting your diversion." Michael pointed one way and went the other, so Alex checked his watch and started off in the pointed direction.

Two minutes later, he had found the perfect spot... a stretch of rough path that led away from the clearing without connecting to it directly. Whoever went after him would have to crash through some branches, or go around a long way. When the time Michael had asked for was past, and then ran a few paces, doing a deliberate trip and rolling on the ground. They should be able to hear that. For good measure, he swore under his breath in a deep voice, trying to sound like Max or Michael.

For three seconds, he waited and listened. Then it became quite clear that two people were heading through the trees towards him. Isabel and Liz should have known better than to both abandon their guard in hot pursuit, but Alex wasn't going to complain that his distraction was working too well. On the other hand, as soon as either of them saw him, they'd see through the diversion and Isabel would probably charge right back to the flag. He had to do anything possible to stop that from happening. Alex jumped back up to his feet and ran down the path like the dogs of hell were the ones chasing him, instead of two of the most beautiful girls he'd ever met.

The path was twisty with many tight bends, which meant Alex didn't need to be very far away from the girls to be completely out of their sight. He played it as close as he dared, realizing that the further they chased their mysterious intruder, the more likely the girls would be to worry about the flag that they had left undefended. If Alex stayed relatively close, it would increase the odds that they wouldn't give up and go back... or, that if they did, it would be Liz sent to return.

He hadn't expected Isabel to use her powers blindly to slow him down. The tree branches moved at the edge of the path, as if pushed by an invisible hand, so that he had to dodge them. He heard a set of footfalls turning around and going back towards the flag, but the trees kept moving, so he assumed that it was Isabel who was still chasing him.

And then there was a sudden gust of warm air, which sent him flying towards a tree branch. (Was Courtney teaching them how to manipulate the weather, at least local winds? That would be useful...) He avoided the tree, but stumbled over a rock and ended up backwards on all fours, crab-style. He had just managed to pull on a branch and get up when Isabel came into view and saw him.

"Damn, a diversion," she muttered. "That means..." And without saying anything else, she turned to run back down the path. Alex had been hoping for some sign of a little respect, but he sighed and hurried to chase her in turn. He might still be able to distract her or slow down her return to the girls' flag.

Isabel realized that he was following her and spun around, waving one hand and pushing him back with a wave of force, but she couldn't run away at a decent speed and focus her powers behind her at the same time. By the rules of the game, she couldn't seriously hurt him with her powers; since this was on the girls' side of the border, she could tag him and force him to go back to the border, which would let her proceed without interruption. But if she tried to get close enough for a tag, Alex could try to knock her down and dodge away. It was a murky stalemate situation.

Isabel settled for hurrying down the path and keeping an 'ear' out for him approaching behind her, menacing him a little every time he got close. Suddenly a war cry rang in the nearby woods, and Tess ran down an intersecting path, Max hot on her heels. Isabel smiled and rushed towards the crossroad, letting Tess hurry past her and getting in position to tag Max. "Look out!" Alex called, and Max ducked back, shooting a blast of green fire past Tess, letting it impact on a tree in front of her.

Tess yelped in surprise, dropping something blue, which she didn't notice, but Alex did, and he crept closer. Tess yelled '_Foul_!' and hurried over to the tree. She seemed to be using her molecular powers on the tree to cover up the scorch mark, and keep it from tipping over partway.

Alex carefully pushed a big round rock so that it sat on top of the boys' flag that Tess had dropped. As it happened, the ground in this area was a little muddy, and soon there was no sign of the blue fabric.

Max noticed what Alex had done, and tried to dodge past Isabel to get to the rock and defend it, but Isabel kept blocking him, her arms spread, ready to tag him out. And a new set of footsteps was coming up the path. Alex wondered if this would be Michael or Liz.

It turned out to be Courtney, the referee, who had come to find out what made Tess cry 'foul'. Courtney's arrival started an argument over whether Max had broke the rule about 'doing nothing to attract attention' when he had blasted the tree, and that distracted Tess enough that it was several minutes before she realized that her captured trophy had gone missing.

It was just at that moment that Max managed to dodge past Isabel and reach Alex's side. The two hybrid girls turned to look at them. "Okay, Whitman," Tess muttered. "Where is it?" Her eyes fell on the rock, and there was a spark of suspicion. Whether she remembered Alex pushing it over, noticed that it hadn't been exactly there before, or just thought it would make a good hiding place wasn't exactly clear, but she was looking in the right place. For all that Alex knew, she had probed beneath it with alien powers and could already 'see' it there.

Alex knew that there wasn't much more he could do to protect the flag, and suspected that Max wouldn't be effective either - either of them could get tagged out at this point if they resisted physically, and Max was outnumbered two to one when it came to alien powers.

Isabel managed to pull the blue rag out of the mud and backed away a few steps, and there was rustling in the branches above, then a war cry. With a last ditch effort, Max sent a wave of force to knock Isabel off balance. She wasn't expecting it in that moment, and went sprawling, dropping the flag again. Michael landed in their midst. Tess leapt to tag him out, but Michael was diving in the opposite direction... and he clapped the stolen pink girl's flag down on top of the fallen blue standard. Tess slapped him solidly on the back a second later, but the game was over. Liz ran up the path, asking what was going on.

Tess got up and brushed herself off. "Courtney, what's the status of Max's foul?" She didn't sound too hopeful about the judgement.

"It's a valid complaint, but minor, compared to victory in combat. Rules don't often mean much compared to winning the war." Courtney sighed. "I could set up a penalty round... Max competing to wipe his slate clean, and if you win, Tess, you cancel out half of the boys' victory."

Max shot a look over at Liz. "Maybe I'll just take a fixed penalty instead of going for half or everything right now." It seemed clear that he wasn't wild about the notion of going into a grudge match against his 'ex-wife'.

"Tess?" Courtney asked, and Tess nodded. "Michael, you're team captain for the boys. Are you signing off on the fixed penalty?"

Michael thought about it, and decided not to overrule Max. "Yeah, I'm fine with it. We played hard, and the girls did well too. We had to bend the rules to win, and I'll take the lumps for that on behalf of the guys."

"Okay then, so noted," Courtney said. "You guys want to take a quick break right here?"

There was a chorus of agreement, and they broke up into smaller groups. "Hey Michael," Tess asked, "How did you get up into that tree in the first place?"

Michael shrugged. "Pushed myself up, using the ground as a leverage point."

Isabel went over to Alex. "Congratulations," she said a little awkwardly. "You did pretty well there."

"Yeah, I'm a top-notch decoy," he laughed back. "You did well too... that stuff with the branches and the wind was really effective."

"I'm sorry I had to..."

"Hey, no apologies necessary," Alex insisted. "This was a war game, and actually I'm glad that you weren't handling me with kid gloves. In a twisted way, it shows respect." _Except that I'm not sure you knew it was me when you knocked me down._ Alex hoped that Isabel would take his statement as a suggestion to follow in the future if nothing else.

"I tried to call you or run into you after I got back from Rencona," Isabel told him. Alex nodded absently. Isabel looked as beautiful as ever - she was wearing a sleeveless brown halter top, simple blue jeans, and leather boots; her golden hair pinned up in one of those poofy tails behind her head. "In fact, it almost seems like you were ducking me."

"I was," Alex said, and Isabel blinked, surprised to hear him admit it openly. "I've got a phone message from you that I didn't return, and an unreplied email. I specifically didn't go to the Crash yesterday because I thought you might go there looking for me."

"I did," Isabel said. "Quarter to six, you come in from band practice and grab a burger and Frappa fries for supper." She sighed. "So, the obvious question would be: **why** were you ducking me?"

"Just to be clear, are you asking me the obvious question?"

"Consider it asked, alright?"

"Well, to be honest I'm not quite sure," Alex said. "Things have been so weird between us ever since you skipped out on your birthday party; though I've heard the circumstances there. After that, you were avoiding me, ignoring me, or snapping at me. The night before you left to go up north, you told me all that stuff about being just friends, which was not what I wanted to hear at the time."

"Okay." Isabel's voice was a quiet prompt.

"When you were gone, after the first two days of raging angst, everything got simpler. No struggle about whether I should casually come by your locker, how you would react if I did, because you wouldn't be there. No wondering if you would say something to me in AP social studies. In a way, that was a relief. And I didn't want to give up that sense of peace, figured that I didn't have to, just because you were home. I'm sorry if this sounds weird and, like, geek logic. But..."

"No, I get it," Isabel said. "I'm just not used to **you** behaving like that." She let the sentence hang in the air for a moment.

Of course, Alex was a pretty bright guy, and he realized what she was getting at. "You've been doing the same thing to me?" he asked, watching her face for a reaction. "Avoided me, even though you wanted to come around, because keeping your distance simple and straightforward?" Isabel nodded. "Well, I understand that better now that I did a few days ago." He paused.

"But I'm not sure," Alex finished, "that it makes sense for us to keep doing this dance... one chasing and the other running away."

Isabel shook her head. "No, when you put it that way, it sounds really stupid."

"So what's our next step?"

"Well, we're both in the middle of more alien madness, training for a commando raid on a town full of killer Skins. That's not exactly the best circumstance to be planning a bold new step in our relationship." Isabel thought for a few seconds. "Maybe we spend what time together we can, not avoiding each other or labelling anything, and figure out where we stand when the dust settles."

"Sure," Alex ducked forward and kissed her, quick and sweet.

Isabel blinked. "Why did you..."

"Well, it was a way to spend our time together, not labelled, and definitely not an avoidance tactic," he quipped. "I'm glad you didn't avoid it either. But, well, you were talking about battle and danger and all that, and I realized; if, god forbid, something bad happened to you in Copper Summit, I'd kick myself if I didn't kiss you right now. So I did it. I hope you don't mind - I know it was kind of sudden."

"I didn't 'mind' it," Isabel stammered, "Not mind so much as matter, if you'll forgive the pun. A kiss with you always matters, and I'm not sure if it's something I'm ready for. But..."

"Hey, I think I get it," he said, trying not to let disappointment show. "Will try to keep..."

"Come and get it!" Tess called out, interrupting what Alex had been about to say. Courtney and Michael were helping Tess carry the food.

"You'd better eat up, Isabel," Courtney added, as the Isabel got up and shot her with an annoyed look. "There'll be another training challenge after dinner."

#

Maria got up from the chair and paced back and forth. She hadn't been able to talk to Liz - Missus Parker said she'd left early to meet Max. Liz's cell phone was out of coverage. Alex hadn't been around all day either. And Maria absolutely refused to call Michael... for that matter, he probably felt the same way about answering her call.

Had some new terrible alien emergency struck? That seemed unlikely. No, whatever was going on, Michael was in the thick of it, and he hadn't told her because of their breakup. Michael was Max's best friend, and Max was Liz's soul-mate. (Again.) Apparently that meant more to Liz than a life-long friendship with Maria.

A new notion hit her, and Maria went back to the back to the phone, started to dial, and then realized that she didn't know the number. She had to go find the West Roswell High student directory before she could finish.

"Valenti house here."

"Hello, sheriff. I, umm... good evening." She hadn't realized that Mister Valenti might pick up the phone, and after all he'd done to help the group she was still intimidated by the county lawman.

"Oh, hello Maria," he said, still as friendly as pie. Somehow that made it worse. "Do you want to talk to Tess?"

"No, actually Kyle. Is he about?" Who said 'about' instead of 'around?' Maria berated herself. Are you **trying** to sound like an English countess?

"Think so, just a sec."

It was over a minute before there was a reply. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you knew what was going on with the gang," Maria blurted out. "Max, Liz, Alex, Isabel... they all seem to be off doing something..."

"Tess took off this morning too," Kyle said. "Michael called a meeting at Whitsername's office early this morning. Alert level boogity-boogity. Tess was in a huge snit about it."

"Did she mention anything else?" Maria said, hoping that she wasn't sounding pitiful. "Are they still at the congressional office?"

"She said something about going off into the woods," Kyle said vaguely. "No specifics. Anything else I can do you for?"

"No, that's it Kyle. Thanks very much."

"Ehhh." And with that inexpressive grunt, he hung up.

Okay, so they were all out in the woods, something to do with important alien stuff, but she wasn't invited. She had no easy way find them and see what was up, and Michael and Tess were in the thick of it. Maybe she should just jump into the Jetta and head the other way.

That idea suddenly sounded very compelling to her. Tess had probably been talking about Frazier woods or the ravine near the reservation, both on the west side of Roswell. If she just drove east, that sounded like a promising start. What it might lead to, she wasn't sure, but maybe she'd just go and see if something else happened next.

When she got to the front door, Maria saw someone on the front path towards her house. He had already seen her on her way out, and seemed frozen in a panic. It was Nicky - Nicky something, the lead guitarist in Alex's band. Maria sang with the Whits every so often since the Blind Date contest, but she wasn't an official member. Nicky Swade; that sounded right. She wasn't sure how he spelled the last name, but it didn't matter.

Nicky was kinda tall, and a kinda cute too, with short dark hair, rich dark brown eyes, and apparently dimples when he blushed, because he was nervous right now. He always dressed casually, and today a baggy black shirt fell so far past his hips, she could hardly see the shorts.

"Hey Nick. Were you coming to see me?" The question hung in the air, and Maria looked for something to say that might draw him out more. "I didn't think you knew where I lived." Maria looked down to make sure she was ready for company... not too bad for someone who'd been sulking by herself all day. She had a nice light blue sweater on, and a white skirt that wasn't too short. Her hair was down, and felt like it was behaving herself today.

"West Roswell high phone directory," Nicky blurted out. "And a reverse lookup phone directory on the internet. I've been wandering around for... for about forty minutes trying to find the address."

"It sounds like you went to a lot of trouble." Maria pulled the door shut behind her and leaned against the door frame. She waved Nicky closer, and he took a few tentative steps up the path. "So, why did you want to come visit me today?"

"Would you believe I wanted to go to a movie with you?" he stammered, voice cracking.

"There isn't a cinema in town that has shows after 3pm on a Sunday." Maria felt bad about teasing Nicky, but something naughty inside her couldn't resist.

"Umm, coffee then?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "Elena Tyler told Marko that you told Stacy Weibler that things were totally over between you and Michael Guerin, Friday at school. I figured that forty-eight hours of respect was all the time I could afford - some other guy might beat me to the punch."

That elicited a snort of laughter from Maria. "I'm not sure that guys are lining up around the corner to take their shot now that word's going round I'm back on the market, Nicky," she said, shaking her head. "And as far as that goes, forty-eight hours might not be enough. I'd still be well into the rebound danger zone."

"I'm willing to take my chances," Nicky said more confidently. "You're not one of the most popular girls in school, but... guys are idiots. Generally that includes me, but I can see that you're somebody amazing. Beautiful, talented, spunky, and sensitive; you have the biggest heart in New Mexico on your sleeve, hidden just under the layer of tough cookie. Guerin never treat you right, and I mean to show you what the difference is - if you have any interest in finding out."

Maria blinked, shocked by the poetry of Nicky's speech. The flattery was an good antidote to an overdose of Michael Thomas Guerin, taken for over a year.

"Do you feel like a road trip, Nicky?"

"Umm, a trip where?" he blurted out.

"Wherever; we can head east until the sun sets. Grab coffee at a drive through."

"Yeah, sounds pretty good to me," Nicky replied, still a little dazed. "Your car?"

"Actually, my mom's... that just makes it more fun."

#

"So, what happened while I was out of town, Alex?" Isabel asked in between bites of her turkey salad. "I mean, every time I ask Liz, she tries to change the subject. Did she share her secret with you?"

Alex hesitated and tried to play it cool. Liz had sworn him to secrecy over many secrets concerning that period, and he could understand why. On the other hand, he knew he wasn't a particularly convincing liar, and Isabel seemed to be very perceptive about him lately.

So, he tried the best diversion he could think of. " I think she just doesn't want to talk much about the whole Michael/Maria thing. It was really hard on her, especially the way things turned out with Courtney." Actually, Alex wasn't sure if anyone had thought to tell Maria that Courtney was definitely, for-sure an alien agent, (with a peculiar political fixation on Michael's past self,) but essentially it was true. "To be honest, I feel kind of guilty for ditching her today; since Michael didn't want her included in this stuff... not that she'd really have wanted to come, with Courtney here."

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way," Isabel admitted. "But there are more important things going on here than Maria's hurt feelings."

"More important than Michael's feelings, too," Liz put in flatly. "Maria's a part of the group, and every time we've let the personal angst get in the way of the entire team working together it's bitten us in the ass. But he insisted on cutting her out."

"Well, I think you can cut him a little slack, Liz," Isabel said. "It's been, what, two days?"

"Yeah, and looks like he's quickly moving on to the next thing," Liz muttered.

Alex took the opportunity to go up and grab some more food. When Michael realized this, he called Liz and Isabel over, little realizing the theoretical possibility that they might actually get into a catfight over his behaviour if left alone. "Is there any reason we have to be sitting into two separate groups? Gather around, it'll be time for the sweet treats soon." And he took a bite of his fried chicken, or as he insisted on calling it, 'bird.' as if that made him a fried chicken connoisseur. Alex suspected that true fried chicken connoisseurs didn't get their 'bird' from the Deep Fry on Louisiana Avenue.

"Okay. What now?" Max muttered after Isabel and Liz had 'gathered round,' and Alex was sitting next to Isabel, and some more 'bird' to eat.

"Well, if nobody minds me asking, what's... what's your planet really like, Courtney?" Tess asked. "Our old home planet, I mean. I have faint memories, but it's hard to tell if they capture the essence, considering that my brain's grown back from a single cell rescued from that world." She tapped the side of her head playfully.

Max looked at Liz and Alex, but neither of them raised an objection, and Courtney considered the question. "A little like Roswell, or at least my home is, a hot and dusty desert, with the only growing things near lonely rivers or farmed with irrigation. I guess Antar is as hard to describe in just one phrase as Earth would be... there are lots of lands, all different, and nobody's visited them all."

"Okay, I'll give you the dry statistics. Our sun is cooler and smaller than Sol, with an orange tint, and the year is shorter. 343 of our days, which would mean maybe three-fifteen earth days, because Antar's days are longer than twenty-four hours. The planet is bigger and less dense than earth, which means gravity is about the same but we have more surface area. There's proportionally less ocean, only around sixty-five percent, which might have something to do with why there's so much desert, but over all the planet that isn't desert, the weather is often unsettled. I've been to southern California and seen the Pacific Ocean, and it doesn't look different from our seas."

"Four moons, none as big as yours, and two of them are tiny asteroids that got caught in the neighbourhood, like Phobos and Deimos over at Mars. But our largest moon is a lot nearer in than yours, so it looks nearly as big in the sky, and it's almost matched with how quickly the planet rotates, That means, during the night, the moon might be full not long after sunset, and down to a crescent soon before the sun is about to come up again, but it won't have moved very much in the sky during all that time. It takes nearly seventeen days for that moon to rise up in the west, set in the east, and then go all the way around to rise again."

"So you go, what, eight days without seeing the moon at all?" Isabel asked.

"**That** moon, yeah," Courtney agreed. "And eight or nine days of Dimaras being out all night, including about a night where it's caught in the middle of rising or setting for hours, and a night when it's high in the sky all night. I have to admit, I haven't got used to the way your moon keeps zipping around all the time," She laughed softly. "And there's the other moon, the next largest, which is a little further away and just big enough that you can make it out as a disc, instead of a bright little star."

"What are the cities like?" Michael asked, and Alex didn't pay attention as he went over to the cooler and grabbed an apple and a package of raspberry mousse for dessert.

Courtney talked about her memories of the alien planet for a while longer; then as more people started to grab treats, conversation turned to the next training game. Tess wanted to do some target practice, but Michael wasn't certain about leaving signs of damage here in the woods, and Max and Isabel didn't want to leave out Liz and Alex just because they couldn't blast anything by pointing at it.

Eventually, Michael arranged a compromise, a game based loosely on the rules of a laser tag session he'd played one time, with the aliens using their powers at a level only hard enough to sting, and Liz and Alex taking water rifles from the trunk of the car that Isabel had borrowed from her mother. The next question was what to do for teams. Nobody wanted to stick with guys versus girls again.

"Well, since Max and Michael won the last one, I officially declare them both captains, and decree that they should arm-wrestle to see who picks a teammate first," Courtney announced. "I want to play this time too." The two old friends moved over to a high flat stump, feeling foolish, and neither of them tried too hard. Max ended up winning.

Before he could decide his first pick, there were footsteps coming through the woods towards them. Michael panicked for a moment, but the intruder turned out to be only Kyle.

"I just wanted to see what was going on," he muttered. "I thought I'd have to drive around on those old dirt roads quite a while, but it wasn't long before I recognized familiar cars. Oooh - bird! You guys don't mind, right? Looks like you've eaten pretty well already, and I haven't had dinner tonight." Not waiting for an answer, Kyle picked up the nearly-empty bucket, and then noticed the lemonade jug.

"There's a third water rifle, Kyle," Alex pointed out. "Wanna play shooting tag?"


	4. Chapter 4

"So, any idea what Michael's going to do?" Liz asked.

"He'll split his army up into two teams," Max said. "That worked well in the flag game. Probably he'll go with Courtney for a frontal assault, and let Kyle watch Tess' back

"I'm not sure you should have picked defence," Isabel said. "There are a lot of woods out here, and if we all manage to miss each other, he wins."

"That's what I'm comfortable with, defending what I'm familiar with, not going on the offensive," Max said softly. "And I don't think lack of action is going to be the problem."

"Leaving a large team close to the target makes sense," Alex put in. "The further away anybody patrols, the less chance they have of actually intercepting the enemy."

Max looked at the three of them, his makeshift army. He had chosen on the basis of who he was most comfortable with, and hoped that he wouldn't regret it. Michael had more firepower on his side.

"Yeah, good enough. But for all four of us to be close to the target seems risky too. We could all get wiped out at once." He thought for a moment. "How about Liz and I stick close, and you two range out about ninety yards away, in the direction that Michael will probably be coming from, around... there." He gestured to the north, where the trees were sparse and the underbrush low. "That range, we should be able to hear each other in case something goes wrong."

"Okay." Alex swung his gun up to lean it on his shoulder and smiled at Isabel as they walked off.

"And **nobody** starts making out," Max insisted.

"Aww shucks," Liz cooed, and as he looked over, she made an exaggerated kissy face at him. Max laughed under his breath.

"We should have plenty of time for that later."

"I know," she said. "Understand how important this is. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little."

"Yeah, I know you do." Max said, and looked out at the woods around him, wondering when Michael's attack would come. "You understood how important it was first."

"What do you mean?"

"Well - you told Michael that he should track Courtney down as soon as you heard that she was an alien. This morning, when I wanted to do something, the first thing you asked was if I had heard from Michael... as if you guessed that his news would take over our whole day."

"Well..." Liz struggled to come up with a quick answer. "I've been thinking about this stuff a lot lately, yeah, ever since I found that letter in the office that I told you about. It didn't really take more than thinking to... to figure it out."

"No, I suppose not." He smiled and took her chin in his fingers, lifting her face slightly. "I don't mean to sound rude or offended that you're looking out for me; it just seems a little strange sometimes. We get back together, and all of a sudden you're more interested in my alien heritage and beating the bad guys than I am."

"Can I help it if I want you to be around for a long time?" Liz teased.

"I certainly won't hold it against you."

"Well, when we get this game wrapped up, I'll take you somewhere private, where you can hold something against me - like maybe your lips?" Liz giggled, and Max smiled in response.

Suddenly there was a call through the trees. "Forward scouts to base camp. Forward scouts to base camp?" On the second repetition, Liz recognized Alex's voice.

"Base camp here," Max called back, trying not to be too loud. "Can you read me?"

"Loud and clear. Do you mind switching girls for a few minutes, captain?"

"Not as such, though I'm a little surprised to hear you requesting it, soldier," Max played along.

"I have my reasons. Okay, Liz?"

"Sure I guess." She gave Max a lazy salute, hefted the water rifle, and marched off in the direction Alex's voice had come from. Isabel came into sight after a few seconds, walking the other way, and shrugged once she was close enough to see Liz's questioning look. Soon they had passed each other, and Liz saw a shape through the trees. She readied her rifle just in case it was one of the enemy standing still, but soon she could positively identify Alex. "So, what's the big deal?" Liz asked, pacing along a path near where he was standing watch. She felt funny just standing still as a forward guard.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"No, you didn't," she admitted. "And anything that might have happened now should be headed off anyway. Why did you pawn Isabel off on her brother? It looked like the two of you were getting along well."

"Not too badly, I have to confess," he said, "but there was something that was bugging me, and I realized I should ask you about it. I was picking up odd vibes between Kyle and Tess after he showed up here. And again when Michael picked them both for his team. Do you know anything about it?"

"Umm..." Liz sighed. "Guess maybe I should have mentioned this to you earlier, but it slipped my mind with all the other details. Friday at lunchtime, I saw them in the records room together. They were making out, pretty hot and heavy."

"What!" Liz made a small 'keep it down' gesture. "I'm sorry, Liz," he continued more quietly, "I don't care if you were visited by a naked _supermodel_ girl from the future, this Tess/Kyle thing is still worthy of mention."

"Nice to get a glimpse of where your priorities line up," she wise-cracked. "I already said that I should have told you, and I'm sorry, okay? Can you let that part go now?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "So... doesn't this mean that you and Max can be more open in front of her now?"

"I don't think so, not yet," Liz sighed. "I can't tell how serious she is about Kyle or how much it's affected the wild raging obsession that she still has with Max. After all, in FM's timeline, they probably hooked up the same way; neither of us did anything that would help to push them together. But when Tess found out about us in that history, she split. I'm not sure if it was right away; he wasn't clear about the timing - but the point is she left. I don't like Tess, but I need her not to abandon Max... at least not until I have another plan that'll last through two thousand fifteen."

"So if Tess knew that you know she hooked up with Tess," Alex whispered slowly, "she might panic, because that could be viewed as giving up her claim on Max. She might drop Kyle and start crowding Max worse than ever."

"That's about it." Liz sighed. "I want to give the situation as much time to stabilize as I can before anything stirs the pot. If Tess has enough time with Kyle, without feeling threatened, maybe she'll actually fall for him. Then Max and I might be able to tell her that we're together." She sighed.

"Well, I could try to get Kyle to confide in me," Alex said. "He might not know what's going on in Tess' head, but he knows more about their relationship than we do."

"Okay I guess," Liz said. "Except that if you tell me anything Kyle confides to you, you'd be breaking his trust, wouldn't you?"

"I know where my priorities are." Alex looked calmly into her eyes. "If we manage it right, Kyle will never need to know that you know anything."

"Wait a second," Liz said. "Do you hear something?" She pointed her gun off into the trees.

They had just enough time to start shooting as Michael and Courtney charged, blasting low-intensity power bolts.

#

"Come on, 'How did you and Michael meet and get together?" Nicky insisted. "It's a simple question; the answer can't be _that_ complicated,"

"Nothing was ever simple when it came to Spa... um, to Michael and me," Maria grumbled, upsey that she had nearly called him 'Spaceboy' in front of Nicky. "But I can try and give you the Cliff notes." She wasn't going to tell Nicky the unabridged version... but he didn't need to hear that.

"Sure, okay." he said.

"Well, let's see... We first met through Liz Parker and Max Evans, because they were friends first."

"Friends?" Nicky repeated. "I heard that Max was trying to steal Liz from Kyle Valenti. It worked, Liz broke up with Kyle, Max and Liz went out once, and then avoided each other all late winter and early spring, Suddenly they're the happiest couple on earth for the late spring, then they're nowhere near each other... and the most recent gossip has Max and Liz going to a concert together just a few days ago."

Maria smiled at that. "Well, that's kind of true. But to start with, they were friends. Liz liked Max, and Max liked Liz, but neither was ready to do anything about it, and not because of Kyle Valenti. Any more heckles from the peanut gallery?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Nicky assured her. "Go on."

"Let's see. Michael insulted me a few times, he tried to steal my car, ended up fast-talking me into letting him take it, and take me, on a road trip to that little bit of Texas south of New Mexico on some half-baked journey of self-discovery, sheesh."

"He totally ignores me when we get back, until I pissed him off by chattering too much while we were waiting with Max's sister for Max and Liz to show up somewhere. He kissed me then, 'to calm me down.' And then he avoided me for a few weeks. The first night of the heat wave, he showed up at the Crashdown when I was cleaning up... this was long before he worked there; and I don't even know how we ended up making out on the dining room counter. That's when it really started I guess... it was months before he'd admit we were in a relationship, but that's Michael for you." She sighed. "I think I have a notion of what you might be thinking."

"What would that be?" Nicky drank some of his coffee.

"That all that proves the point you were trying to make; that Michael was never any good for me, or good enough for me. And if you're thinking that, I find it hard to disagree with you."

Nicky laughed. "I don't need to rag on Michael any more. He's unusual... but I think you saw something unlikely in him. Myself, I'm past wanting to talk about him at all."

"About damn time!" Maria laughed. "Oooh, road sign, let's see. Tatum, New Mexico. Texas state line, ahead in 15 miles. Or... we could turn north or south on route 18."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to cross a state line on our first date," Nicky replied with a laugh. "So, we could stop, turn around, go north, or go south. What's your pick?"

"Well, I don't want to turn around and head back right now," Maria said. "And there's nothing to the north. We could stop in town, explore a little and head back, in which case we'd be back in Roswell..." She peered at the clock on the car radio and did mental math. "About eight-thirty."

"Or...?" Nicky prompted.

"Well, south on route 18 it's half an hour or so to Lovington, and then we can swing back around, west to Maljamar on the 238 and back to Roswell from there. That would add an hour onto our trip time, but it sounds fun - if you're up for it!"

Nicky laughed. "Yeah, I'm in for the loop."

"Do you need anything? There's a truck stop in Tatum that isn't too bad."

"Nah, I'm good," he said. "How are we doing on gas? I can chip in for that if you want."

"Nah, you grabbed the coffees and the food. The tank is pretty high, and I'll take care of re-filling it before my mom notices that it's down," she said.

#

"I'm a little surprised you asked to ride with me," Kyle said to Alex.

"Well, it was a bit crowded in Tess' car on the way," Alex replied. "And it's not like there's bad blood between us or anything, right? I don't dislike you. We just don't know each other well."

"Yeah, you seem like an okay guy from what I can tell." Kyle sighed. "So, does this kind of thing happen a lot when... those people are around?"

"Alien war games?" Alex smiled. "No, this is the first time, as far as I know. But since I got to know Isabel and the others... I've learned to expect the unexpected. Or to not be too surprised when it pops up unexpectedly."

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like a good strategy. Umm... what about Tess? I know that you haven't known her as long as the others, and there's this past lives thing with Max that Liz doesn't like, and maybe as Liz's friend you feel compelled to dislike Tess too..."

Alex tried to stop his smile from being obvious. "Not so much. The Tess/Max/Liz thing I try to leave between them... Liz feels free to come to me and complain when the situation gets tense, but I haven't gotten involved, and I don't take it out on Tess. On the other hand - well, she's kinda walled off, and I don't think she likes me. Why do you ask?"

"Umm... you know, just wondering if you could give me advice how to live with her without an autopsy ensuing." Kyle sighed.

Alex recognized a cue. "An autopsy? Are you guys fighting that much?"

"Actually no. Still... she's the strangest girl I've ever met."

"Well, she had a very odd childhood, so that's not too surprising. Somehow, I don't think she's really any different from the rest of us. Give her a little respect and work on the lines of communication, and things will go fine."

"Thanks, I think." Kyle yawned. "So, what's the situation with you and Elle Evans?"

"Isabel? Umm, we're - in a no-commitment zone we finish with all this Copper Summit. But I kissed her this afternoon, and she didn't kick my head off for it. I call that a good sign." He paused a moment. "When we go to Arizona... do you want to come along, Kyle?"

"Well, I haven't heard what's going down, aside from Tess telling me it's big hairy danger. I think I'd like to help out if there's a place for me."

"Very briefly, and sparing little of the strangeness, it's a town full of aliens who've been sent to Earth to hunt for our friends," Alex said. "They live inside these organic spacesuits that make them look human, but the spacesuits are about to die, and they're growing a new batch that are almost ready to use. Michael and Max want to go there, steal the suit for Courtney, who's a double-agent, and kill off the rest. While Copper Summit is putting on a fake funeral for Congresswoman Whittaker, who Isabel killed."

Kyle took a while to mull that over. "Our congresswoman is dead? Wouldn't her disappearance or death have been on the news or something?"

"There was no body left, just dust" Alex rattled off. "Liz was covering for her absence. But the bad guys are going to break the news, probably tomorrow morning."

"Well, as long as I can help as a lookout or something, I'm in," Kyle said. "Tell Isabel or Liz or whoever if it comes up, alright?"

"Sure," Alex decided to try a tangential tactic. "You seem very keyed up in general. You can tell me this is out of bounds, but are you seeing someone?"

"Yeah, actually. I'd rather not say anything more at the moment though," Kyle replied. "How did you tell, is it that obvious?"

"Just call it a lucky guess."

#

"You win some, you lose some, I guess." Michael sighed as Tess turned onto the highway. "I didn't expect Max and the norm patrol would be so quick on the ball."

The game of shooting tag had been exciting and bitterly fought, but Max's hard-pressed defenders had driven back the blitz attack from Michael's team, and declared the winners. Tess shot Michael a glare - she'd lost two games, counting capture the flag, and Courtney was zero and one, since she'd been referee before.

"The score doesn't matter until it matters," Courtney said, "and this time, we were going up against our own team. If you guys learned anything that'll help in Copper Summit, then you're all winners, and I think you did." She sighed. "Even I was able to brush up on the basics a little, and to remind myself that I'm not unbeatable."

"Mmmrph," Tess mumbled wordlessly.

"You've got good aim, Michael," Courtney said after a moment. "That'll come in handy."

"Yeah. Playing life and death with the Special Unit does wonders for that." Michael laughed bitterly.

"The Special Unit? Those FBI guys who were working for Pierce?"

"How much do you know about them?" Michael asked. "Were you were spying on Whittaker, when she was Pierce's congress liaison?"

"Yeah. That was a big part of why she black widowed her way into Washington, I think, to make contact with the alien hunters and cultivate one of them. She needed to know if Copper Summit was on Pierce's radar, and wanted their data to find you guys. The Royal Four, and their protector."

Michael thought about that. "She didn't make a move against us until the Special Unit was nullified."

"Making a play too early was never V's style," Courtney said. "If you were on Pierce's radar, then she was watching you, since you were right there in Roswell. But she'd never move if she could put it off. She must have had a very good reason to kidnap Tess and play games with Isabel, that night she died."

Michael thought about that, and wondered if there was something that Isabel wasn't telling them all about that night. "Isabel said she was trying to find, umm, some weird alien artifact. I think she was worried about her Husk dying and wanted something better than the Harvest." He considered that, and decided to ask the others if they thought he should tell Courtney about the Granolith.

#

"Yeah, that was cool," Isabel said. "Liz, I can't believe that you managed to hit Kyle with your water gun, when he was up in that tree! We're lucky that he didn't fall off."

"Yeah, that wasn't bad," Liz agreed. "Of course, while I was focusing on Kyle, I let Tess buzz me out." She shot an affectionate look over at her man. "If Max hadn't been able to shield, we'd have lost everything."

"I think Courtney and Michael regret that they didn't push for a rule against using non-offensive alien powers off the table," Max said. "But I couldn't have held them off with that trick long if it hadn't been for you, Isabel... and for Alex too. Make sure to thank him for me, right?"

"Sure, Max," Liz and Isabel said in unison, and they looked at each other and laughed.

Max was coming into town by now. "Do you mind if I drop you off first, Isabel?" he said. "I'd like to be able to say goodnight to Liz _properly_."

"How about this? You can park at the Crash, I'll go in, get a soda and nurse it for as long as I need to; and we'll both go home when you're good and ready. That makes more sense than you driving back and forth, going to our place, then back across town to the Crash, and then home."

Max and Liz exchanged a look. "That works for me," Liz said, and Max nodded.

Isabel disappeared into the Crashdown dining room, and Max turned to Liz. "So where do we do this?"

Liz thought about it. Both of her parents would be home, on a Sunday evening, and might poke their heads out onto the balcony if they were wondering what was keeping her. She didn't really feel like kissing him in the Jeep here in the parking lot. So she got out and headed towards Main street. "Come on!"

He wasn't surprised to see her going to the Congressional office. "We're really going to miss having this place available, after the funeral," he said. "Do you suppose they'll leave it empty for whoever wins the by-election?"

"Probably not." Liz sighed. "It was rented out by Whittaker, not the party or the government. I think that's typical for congressional offices. The locks will be changed by two days after the funeral."

"Too bad," Max said. "Well, we'll have to make the best of it." They were inside now, and Max unfolded the hide-a-couch tucked into a corner of Whittaker's personal office. "Maybe go to her apartment too; see what it's like."

Liz blushed for a second. She had already been inside Vanessa Whittaker's apartment. She'd guessed that it was a logical place for Max's future self to live and sleep while he was visiting her time, and she had been right. The idea of being there with _her_ Max seemed profoundly disjointed.

Max completely missed the true reason for her reaction. "It was just a stray thought," he said after a moment. "Probably not the best thing to do... can we just forget I said it?"

Liz laughed. "We've got better things to do anyway, so yeah. Come on, give me a little lovin', before we go off to our cold lonely beds?"

Max grinned and sat down next to her. "If I said it, a line like that would be way over the top. But you can pull it off, Liz my darling." And he proceeded to kiss her, his hands wandering over her exposed skin, and making her tingle with passion wherever they went.

#

By the time Tess got back, after chauffeuring Michael and Courtney to their separate apartments, (and enduring their pathetic attempts to flirt all the way home,) Kyle's car was already parked in the garage. Jim was watching a football game in the living room, but Kyle, surprisingly, was not with him. "Hi. Any idea where Buddha boy is?" she asked.

"He said he had to study for a big trig test coming up this week," the Sheriff said after a moment. "So I said he could use the desk in my room. I don't think he'd mind if you said hello."

"Umm, thanks." She didn't go to Jim's room right away... the practice sessions and war games out in the woods had been tiring and sweaty, and Tess grabbed some clean clothes from the bottom drawer of Kyle's dresser, and ducked into the bathroom to clean up. Rather than take the time for a shower, she used a bit of molecular manipulation to encourage the undesirable substances out of her skin and hair, and dressed. Then she knocked on the door of the master bedroom. "Hello?"

"Sure, come in."

She did so, leaning back against the doorframe. "Just wanted to tell you, you did good out there. Too bad Max has the shield or we'd have kicked their butts."

Kyle put down his pencil, turned around, and smiled, his eyes widening. Tess wondered exactly how good she looked, her hair hanging down loose and just slightly wavy. The clothes she'd grabbed were a white cut-off T-shirt and denim shorts. Nothing else. Sexy clothes, by no co-incidence. After a moment Kyle shook off his hormonal reaction and nodded again, his face showing no warmth.

"For the record..." She strode in and sat on Jim's bed, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I was a little upset to see you out there today, and I shouldn't have been. I'm still not wild about the idea of you risking your neck, but I don't have a say in it. That's your decision to make, for whatever reasons you please. And I'm sorry if I was rude to you on the phone."

Kyle thought about that for a moment, and his icy demeanour softened. "Do you mean that?" he said, and Tess nodded. "Well, you should know that Alex told me about what you guys are planning for Arizona, and asked if I wanted to come along. I told him that I'd be glad to, as long as there was some way I could help. I think Liz will be coming too."

Tess paused, trying to keep her reaction to this news under control. "Well... as I said, that's your decision. And you'd probably be good company on the drive." He smiled slightly. "I guess I don't want to stay mad at you, or have you mad at me. I can think of better ways of spending that energy between us."

"Oh, really?" Kyle smirked. "Are you jonesing for a little more attention?" He laughed softly.

"That wasn't what I mean, but it'd be nice." She sighed. "Too bad your dad is around. We can't do anything here, and we can't sneak off to the love nest or go parking without getting him curious. I've been gone all afternoon, and you've been out for a few hours too I think."

"Well, we can't do _everything_ here," Kyle said. "But I have a few things to show you that we'll get away with, if you just keep from making any noise. Are you up for it?" He stood up, made a quick pile of his schoolbooks like he often did when taking a break from studying, and grinned. Tess and her common sense lost the struggle against hormones and curiosity.

"Just how far are you thinking of going?" she whispered before opening the door to cross back into the other bedroom.

Kyle didn't say anything at first, just reached one hand around to the front of her shirt, cupping one of her orbs, and tweaking the nubbin in that way that always made her melt. Tess' knees buckled. "Just wait and see."

#

Liz opened a bleary eye at her alarm clock, saw it was nearly six in the morning, and decided that she couldn't stay in her comfy bed longer. Quickly she washed with a cloth and a sink full of warm water, grabbed a bowl of granola cereal, and settled down in front of the television, keeping the sound low, flipping back and forth between all the newscasts that she could find.

She first found it on a cable news station that was based someplace in Arizona. The driver of the car that had apparently left the highway and collided with a large boulder had been identified as one Vanessa Crawford Whittaker, Arizona native and sophomore congresswoman for the second district of New Mexico. Details were unclear at this point as to why Whittaker had been in this area, or why she had been driving alone, although the site of the accident was close to her home town of Copper Summit. Cable Pulse 28 promised to give Liz further details as they became available - _bee-beep! bee-be_...

Liz rushed back into her room to turn off the alarm clock before it woke anyone up.

For a little while, there was no more information. Liz caught a mention of the accident from Albuquerque, who gave fewer details than Arizona 28 had. Frustrated, Liz flipped back to Arizona 28 and stuck there for nearly 20 minutes, at which point they returned to the story, not with any new details, but a repetition of the basic circumstances, along with some background information on Whittaker that must have been gathered quickly... Liz had done her own share of web research into that woman's past over the past week, and kept recognizing phrases that the anchor was reading. They also mentioned that Whittaker had been the only member of the judiciary congressional subcommittee on crime and Internal Security to vote against the disbanding of the discredited 'alien hunter' unit of the FBI, and that she had been accused of "witch hunting" after insisting that a Roswell teenager be arrested in connection with strange bones found out in the desert near town. Liz shook her head, hating that these details were being dragged out again, knowing that they could lead any number of people back to the Pod Squad, or at least give them an idea of where to look and find out interesting things.

It was quarter to seven before Liz found the incident recounted on a third TV channel, and she called Max right away. "It's started," she told him as soon as he picked up the phone, without identifying herself or letting Max say a word.

"Umm... huh? Liz, is that you? What's started?"

"The cover-up," she explained. "Whittaker was 'found' dead in her car two hours ago. The friendship league has already announced their memorial service."

It took a few seconds, but when Max spoke he sounded more awake and coherent. "That's what we expected, right? What time will the funeral be?"

"I haven't heard that yet. Maybe I should run over to her office and see if there are any messages, or if someone will call before school starts." She frowned. "I don't even really like leaving the phone to ring all day while we're in classes. Maybe Courtney would be able to cover for me... if that wouldn't look too funny-"

"Liz, honey?" Max's voice cut her off gently in mid-ramble. "You should slow down for a second. How long have you been up and watching the news for anyway?"

"Umm, nearly an hour, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep," she said. "And I hate to say it, but any given minute may be critical."

"Okay, if you want to go over to the office, go ahead," he said with a soft sigh. "Who am I to stop you? I can get over there too and give you a hand if you like."

"Sure," Liz replied, smiling at the thought. "I need to get dressed first, and you should probably shower and grab something to eat, yourself."

"Got it. Love you, sweetie." He made a soft affectionate noise, not quite a kiss or a hum, into the phone.

"Love you right back," she vowed, and rushed off to find clothes.

#

"Hey, what's the big?" Michael asked as he strode through the door to the congressional office.

"Whittaker's dead," Courtney shot back.

"Umm, that's very old news."

"As in, the rest of the world now knows she's dead," Max filled in from behind a desk. "The alien cover-up has begun, which means that we finally have some information to begin planning strategy off of."

Michael smiled and took a seat. "So what are the facts then?"

"The Universal Friendship league has announced that it'll hold the memorial service at their headquarters building, three o'clock tomorrow afternoon," Courtney rhymed off. "They're trying to get the issue settled and the honourable congresswoman cremated, as soon as possible before anything can complicate the situation."

"Courtney's volunteered to stand in here while we go to classes," Max explained. "People have already started calling." He indicated the inner office, where Liz was just thanking yet another prominent constituent for his sympathies. "There's not much else to do today, aside from getting ready."

"You should catch some shuteye this afternoon, since you've got that nice big apartment with no parents to ask questions," Courtney said. "Maybe even invite a few of the others to have a sleepover in your living room. It's a long drive to Copper Summit, and we'll all have to head out in the middle of the night to make it there two hours before the festivities start."

Michael nodded. "Why two hours?"

"It sounded good," Courtney admitted. " I want to have time before the funeral starts, for scouting out the premises, and on-site tactical planning."

"Good enough. So when do we roll out?"

"One-thirty in the morning," Max said. "It's a ten-hour drive, not counting traffic or rest breaks."

Michael nodded. "Next question, how many cars and who goes with whom?"

Max thought about that one for a second, and shrugged. "Courtney, any thoughts?"

She was already weighing the possibilities. "If we were going to be splitting up when we left Copper Summit, then more cars, three or even four, would make sense, but we're not. We're planning to beeline it straight back to Roswell, planning that Nicholas will think it's a feint or a trap and not come after us right away."

She sighed. "So I'd tend to say just two cars, though I'm not sure exactly why." She took a moment and then suggested a justification: "Fewer targets to defend, more firepower per target that we present. As far as seating assignments, I'm not sure that I care much." She shot a meaningful look at Michael though, perhaps wondering if he'd ask to ride with her.

"We can use the team assignments from yesterday evening," Michael suggested. "Assuming that we have all the same people."

Max thought about that for a second. He felt comfortable with all the people who'd been on his side in the shooting tag war-game... possibly too comfortable. It might be better to stay in touch with the more extreme, less conservative members of the group. On the other hand, he didn't really want to be stuck on such a long drive with Tess, both ways. "No, how about the four of us," he waved to include Liz in that, as well as Michael and Courtney, "in the jeep, and Tess takes Isabel and any of the other guys who want to come. Sound alright?"

"Yeah, that works for me," Courtney affirmed.

"Got it. Well, we'd better be heading to classes." Michael stood up. "No practice this afternoon, Court?"

"I don't think so," she agreed. "You did well yesterday, and we can drill strategy on the road. Meet up here this afternoon?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Max agreed. "Liz?" She had gotten off the phone and was standing in the doorway.

"There are a bunch of people really upset with the League co-opting the funeral to Arizona," she said. "They're saying since her work was here, she should have had a funeral in New Mexico, even a state affair. I wasn't sure whether to calm them down or not... if some of the weirdness about Copper Summit becomes public knowledge, that could be bad for us."

"On the other hand, a little public outrage surrounding the memorial service could make it easier for us to accomplish something," Michael put in.

"I'm not sure I like the thought of goading human protesters into annoying killer aliens," Max said. "Don't rile them up while we're at school, Courtney."

Courtney smiled enigmatically. "Aye-aye, your majesty."

Max tried to ignore the unsettled feeling in his stomach as the three of them headed out to the Jeep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Maria!" Liz ran to catch up with her friend as Maria made her way out of English Lit. "I'm sorry - for kind of blowing you off last night. There was, well, it was kind of..."

By this time Maria had led the way into an empty stairwell near the hockey field. "I got the cliff notes from Valenti. Big danger, some new crisis; Michael was in the middle of it, and he wanted to cut me off because he's still mad at me. Oh, and I saw the news reports about the Congresswoman - is that connected?"

"Yeah." Liz sighed. "Okay, let's see. Courtney is an alien, one of the ones who came in the same mission as Whittaker, but she doesn't work for the same people. Not quite on Max and co's team, at least she wasn't to start with, but she's teamed up with them against the common enemy."

Maria walked out across the field, digesting this info, and Liz did her best to stay caught up. "So... was Michael really being straight with me? About Courtney, only investigating her for club business?"

Liz hated to say this, but she owed Maria the truth, or as much of it as she had available. "I'm not really sure. They've been acting pretty interested in each other while planning the big assault. My intuition, and that's all it is: there's more between them than alien tactical techniques."

Maria's face fell, but not quite as much as Liz had expected. "All right. On a more positive note, **I** actually met someone yesterday. Well, not actually met because I already knew who he was, but was asked out by someone who I wouldn't have thought of as a... a potential whatever, you know?"

"You... you were?" Liz exclaimed. "Umm... do you like him? Who is he, would I know him? How did all this..."

"He's the lead guitarist in Alex's band," Maria filled in. "Nicky Swaid. He was at the blind date concert, though you were busy when you finally showed up there, and at Alex's birthday party last summer..."

"Nicky," Liz repeated, smiling with recognition. "Yeah, of course I remember him. Nice dimples and lead guitar equals considerable mojo. I actually thought about seeing if he wanted my phone number, during that whole post-Destiny-message crazy period, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea. What do you think of him - any sparks?"

"A few," she said. "It was a little awkward, probably because I'm still recovering from the whole Michael thing. But we went for a long drive yesterday evening, and had a nice time. I really do like him, Liz."

Liz smiled. "A drive? Where'd you go?"

"Oh, around the Lovington loop, you know. We went back via the local streets, instead of through Artesia."

Liz took a moment to recognize the reference. Maria had taken her on a kind of 'loop' that passed through the town of Lovington the summer before last, a few weeks before they learned Max's secret, but... "That's, what, a four and a half hour drive, round trip?"

Maria grinned. "Yeah, a nice little first date. And he kissed me when I dropped him off. Sweet, tender - definite potential."

"Umm... who was that, if you don't mind me asking?" The girls whirled around. They'd been standing at the far end of the hockey field, talking underneath the trees, and apparently both of them had gotten so absorbed in the gossip as to not notice Alex approach. Liz kicked herself once, mentally. What if it hadn't been Alex, and what if the conversation had been a little more sensitive at this point? She had to be more aware of what was going on around her.

Maria hadn't answered Alex's query, so Liz shot her a sidelong look, and Maria shrugged and then nodded. "Your friend Nicky from the band has apparently made a move on our little sweetheart Maria," Liz said.

"Oh... huh," Alex said, blinking. "And he has 'potential?' Well, here's wishing the best for both of you. Now, do you want to come along with the gang on our latest caper?"

"Umm..." Maria seemed a little at a loss for having been put on the spot. "Are you trying to do an end run around Michael, Alex?"

"Michael's not in charge, Max is," Alex insisted. "Michael even told Courtney so. And it wasn't fair of him to cut you out like that. All for one, one for all, the whole deal."

"Well thanks, I appreciate the sentiment," Maria said. "On the other hand, I don't really want to come along just to prove a point; in fact I think I'd just as soon stay out of their way for as long as I can..."

"Okay, how about this," Liz said. "I've been thinking that we should have someone staying back here in Roswell anyway. To watch the news for any important developments, and serve as home base to relay messages in case we get split up and can't contact each other directly. Check on the answering machine at Whittaker's office and so on. It shouldn't be too hard... are you in?"

"It sounds like make-work," Maria admitted, "but yeah. You've got yourself a secretary."

"So, Nicky swooped in, huh?" Alex said, changing the subject back. "I wouldn't have expected such a daring move from him, I have to admit..."

#

Isabel grabbed Alex on his way out of third-period, taking his arm and steering him away from the cafeteria. "Umm... hello, huh?" he mumbled. "What's all this, then?"

"Come with me, Alex," she said, and shot a timid smile in his direction. They went up the stairs to the hallway between the teacher's lounge and the upper-classes math room, drew him inside the utility closet, closed the door, and kissed him.

"Okay..." Alex said once she let him breathe again. "Did I do anything particular to deserve that?"

Isabel smiled, rubbing Alex's arm. "Umm, not really. It's a long story."

"I love long stories."

Isabel let two of her fingers graze over his chin for a moment before speaking. "Well, Max and Liz ditched me at the Crashdown last night, very nicely, and went to make out. I did kinda volunteer to kill time until they were ready. But I was feeling jealous and said to myself, 'I wish Alex was around.' So I held onto that feeling and acted on it when I had a chance. You're not..." A string of soft giggles escaped her. "You're not sorry that I did, are you?"

Alex had to laugh too. "No, I'm not, though I've seen this play out before. And what happened to 'matter over mind'?"

Isabel shrugged. "Isn't a good thing if we matter to each other?"

Alex thought about that. "It is, if we're both ready to come to terms with having an honest relationship. I thought that was off the table until after Arizona." Isabel's face dropped into disappointment. "You're free to change your mind about that one if you want to." Alex chuckled softly. "And if you want to make out in the commitment-free zone, I'm good with that."

Isabel laughed out loud. "Okay, now that you mention, try this on for size." She stepped forward and kissed him again, softly on the lips, with a few of her fingers running through the short hair at the back of Alex's neck. As her lips moved down Alex's neck, he had to control himself so cries of satisfaction and pleading for couldn't be heard outside the closet.

#

The key players were all at Whittaker's office soon after school let out: Michael, Max, Liz, Isabel, Tess, and Kyle. Alex had told Isabel that he wanted to look up something in the town library, and Maria had plans to meet Nicky for a walk.

"I did do something that I hope you won't consider stupid," Courtney said as soon as she saw that Max was present. "A few of the people who called said they were going to be calling the League in Copper Summit and going to the memorial service there. I mentioned that Whittaker has a younger brother. If a bunch of outsiders pass on their condolences to him through the League, they might decide Nicholas should be on hand for the funeral ceremony, instead of guarding the husks. And that will be a good thing for us."

Max thought for a moment. "Yeah, sounds pretty smart at that. Not a bad call." He nodded politely at her.

"So, what's up for today, aside from getting our rest?" Tess pushed. "Can we study more useful combat techniques with 'the power'?"

"Oh, my god!" Courtney exclaimed. Suddenly everyone else was staring at her. "Sorry, just... the way you put that, it jogged a memory of something I really should have thought of yesterday. I can't believe I didn't even mention the foursquare formation."

Everyone reacted to those last words, except for Kyle, who only looked around blankly, wondering what the others were excited about. "What do you mean by that?" Michael asked.

"It's an ancient Antarian defensive battle manoeuvre," Courtney said. "Not really a square - it's usually more of a four-pointed diamond than anything else. One person is out front, one behind, a couple paces away from each other. The other two stand in between, one to each side, close enough to touch. The four participants each look in a different direction, so the foursquare can't be attacked from the flank or the rear, but that's just a sidelight, not the real benefit."

Courtney frowned to herself, gathered some thoughts, and started again. "Okay, first you need four people with very strong mental powers to make a foursquare, and a resonance between their energy balances, a kind of harmony. Their strengths combine, and multiply, in an exceptional way. Also, each member links to the others, so that they can see and hear everything that's happening. The foursquare can block brutal attacks without taking damage, if the resonance behind it is true - it can also drive home a decisive attack once its opponents tire."

"I've only joined a foursquare once, long ago, and it wasn't very successful. My training focused on offensive tactics, and I never found three other people with whom I had that harmony. But you... the Royal four, back home, were famous for it. It's why you caught the attention of the public as a group, before the old king died and the unrest started. You did exhibitions while you were all in your teens! I saw one of those shows, and it was phenomenal. You may not remember how, but even in half-human bodies your energy signatures should have that common frequency. It's why you were sent to Earth together."

Courtney's audience shared several glances. "Whatever you can remember, if you can tell us how, that would be good," Tess said. "You're right... considering the odds we're up against right now, this is an advantage we can't ignore."

"Does Nicholas have anybody in Copper Summit who's good at the foursquare?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah, one square. Greer's in it, Walt Crawford, and two other League officials."

"Nicholas isn't part of it too?" Michael pressed.

"He doesn't sound like the type to play well with others." Kyle said.

"No, he's not. And he's not Antarian; the foursquare doesn't fit with how his people have developed their mental powers."

"Okay," Max nodded. "There's something else. Kyle, we need to tell your father what we're planning. He put himself out on a limb for us, and the least we can do is keep him up to speed on new developments... especially anything as dangerous as this."

"Umm, okay." Kyle nodded. "You want me along for that?"

"Yeah, if that's okay."

"So the sheriff is in on your secret club handshake?" Courtney said. "Yet another human... this doesn't concern them."

"If it hadn't been for Jim Valenti," Michael told her, "we'd probably all be dead or in FBI rat cages right now. The same goes for Liz, Maria, and Alex... and Kyle seems to be doing okay recently, surprising as that is. I don't want to hear you talking down about them again... not that I have the right to tell you what to do or say. But you joined this team because you've burned your bridges with the other aliens on this planet... might want to be careful what you say about the puny humans!"

Courtney blinked, and nodded. "I... I'm sorry, you're probably right," she muttered. "Maybe that's something I do to cover up how alone I feel here. But you're right; for all of our more developed technology and society; we haven't been doing any better than Earth."

"I'm not sure that's quite what I mean," Michael said. "But it'll do." He sighed. "And yeah, Max, I agree, Valenti should know. So, we've got enough to tackle and not much time. Anything else?"

"One slightly wild notion," Liz said. "Does anybody know what happened to that miniature surveillance camera we found last spring?"

"It's in my room, has been since Jim gave it back to us," Max said, surprised by the thought. "Do you have some plan to get it into Copper Summit, so that we can get an idea of the layout before we go in ourselves?"

"Yeah. Probably pin it to the coat of someone attending the funeral."

"That's possible," Michael muttered. "We'll need to make sure that whoever won't notice it, and yet it's unlikely to get covered up when we need to use it. And things could get uncomfortable for your patsy if the League notices the transmission and tracks it to source. We'll have to ask Alex about all that; he's the only electronics whiz we've got."

"Work out the pluses and minuses carefully before going ahead," Max suggested. "Okay, anyone else who wants to be there when I talk to Jim, I'm going now to get it over with."

#

"So," Jim said, looking at Max, Michael, Liz, and Tess as they sat crowded onto the couch. "You were going to leave in the dead of the night without telling anyone, drive clear across the state and halfway into Arizona, 'stake out' a town full of killer aliens, many of whom are trained agents returning home from missions around the world... wait until the cover-up funeral for a congresswoman begins, sneak in past their defences, steal an... unintelligent life-form, destroy hundreds of others that represent the only hope for all of these Copper Summit aliens to stay alive on Earth, and run straight back to Roswell."

"Yeah." Max fidgeted and squeezed Liz's hand. "We explained how..."

Jim cut him off with a gesture of one hand. There was a looming silence through the house that lasted nearly two minutes. "Try as I might, I can't find a flaw in the plan. It's risky, and people you love will assume the worst... but when the situation is dire, you have to take chances. I understand that. The alternative is to let these guys consolidate their force and come after you. I don't want to see that happen either." He sighed, an odd half-smile on his face. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Liz laughed. "Thanks for the offer, Mister Valenti, but you'd have a harder time explaining a sudden disappearance than we would. Plus, the cars are full already, and you can help us from here, trying to keep anyone from getting too worried..." Her thought ran out of steam at that stage.

"It'll be tricky, but yeah; I'll cover for you as well as I can," he agreed. "Probably by joining the angry parent brigade and trying to steer its wrath from within, as it were. But do check in with me when you can, alright?"

"We will," Max agreed. "You'll be able to reach Maria... she's be staying here in town too, and she won't hide anything from you now. We'll keep her as up to speed as well as we can."

"All right," Valenti agreed. "Be careful - take care of yourselves... and of **my son.** Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay." Max and Jim seemed uncertain how to bring the meeting to a close. "Is there anything I can get you kids before you go? You have to eat, keep your strength up before a commando raid don't you?"

#

"Isn't there anything more you can remember?" Isabel asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. "You **did** it once. Even if that wasn't a rousing success, you must know how to get started."

Courtney sighed and brushed the hair away from her face. "Hey, cut me a break. It was another world, practically another body, and more years ago than anything you remember... but yeah, I think I still have some of the foursquare basics. You can't try one until the others come back, though, so we'll stick with the vague theory." Courtney got up, paced through the office, and then turned to look at Isabel. "The first step is for all four participants to connect. I know you guys have some experience with making connections, but you're only at the skin-on-skin, eye contact level, right?"

Isabel wasn't sure what to make of the question. "Yeah, you touch the person and you look at each other. What's the alternative?"

"For most situations that'll do fine," Courtney said. "But in a combat situation, it can be limiting. Even outside of combat, if you and Max want to combine your powers to lift a weight more than either of you could manage alone; you can't stare into each others' eyes while you're connected. You have to look at the weight. The same thing applies to a battle. You can't always afford eye contact to initiate the link, and after it's established you have to maintain it without touch. Otherwise your foursquare would be a circle, holding hands looking inward. Nobody would be able to focus the energy against outside threats."

"Go back to that weight lifting example," Isabel asked. "How does connecting help there? We could use our powers separately, on the same weight. Like if we were lifting the object physically, together. He takes one side and I take the other - that sort of thing."

Alex spoke up. "Does it work like the foursquare formation, just a little? Two people together are stronger than the sum of their powers separately?"

Courtney smiled. "Maybe a little. More importantly, power fields don't focus as tightly as hands and arms. You'd be liable to get interference if you worked separately towards the same goal... unless the object is big enough for you to each take an end. If the two of you connected, you could work together smoothly and not worry about interference... except on the personality level." Courtney sighed. "There's so much to explain and not much time. Why don't you try making a connection without eye contact, Isabel? If you have trouble with that one, we can try making it the usual way and then breaking eye contact without breaking the link, but I hope you'll be able to skipping that lesson." Isabel seemed to be confused about how to start. "Do you want to practice with me or Whitman?"

Isabel considered them both. Courtney was knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but some part of her still thought of the new girl as an outsider, and she didn't want to have to open up to her. Alex... well, this kind of intimacy with Alex had its own problems, but at least she knew that she could trust him with her life. She already had.

"Okay, Alex..." Keeping her eyes on the floor so that she wouldn't meet his eyes, Isabel stretched out a hand, and after a second, Alex took it. There was no immediate reaction, but Isabel pushed, trying to force a rapport. She focused all of her awareness concentrating on his hand.

"That's never going to work," Courtney exclaimed. "You don't push that hard to make an eye-contact link, do you? So why do you think that forcing yourself will help for touch-only? It's kind of like running water through a flexible hose... pushing that hard is just going to crimp the hose and the flow stops. Try to relax... relax hard, if that isn't a paradox."

Isabel sighed, let her muscles relax as much as they wanted to, and let her mind to wash clean of worries and questions close to the surface. But it still didn't work - there was no sense of contact with Alex deeper than physical touch, and she knew she had more tension, bottled up inside her, and she didn't know how to let that drain away, how to do anything with it other than trying to force it away, which wasn't the point and trying would just stress her out more.

Then Alex rubbed his fingers softly against hers, and suddenly it happened. She could still feel some tension, affecting her mind and her power balance, but a huge chunk dropped away instantly, and she had contact. Nothing too deep, because she wasn't comfortable with an intense rapport at the moment, but she could feel his breathing, the pulse in his throat and the way the couch felt underneath him.

"Good," Courtney whispered, sensing the connection as soon as it happened. "Now... let go of his fingers, and keep that link alive... just have the connection go through the air between you, like the forces we were working with yesterday."

Isabel slipped her hand gently out of his, and all of the sensations she'd been in touch with faded. Isabel gasped, then realized that they hadn't gone away, just became fainter and fuzzier. The link was still there.

"Okay, you're doing great," Courtney said. "One more thing to try and then you can take a break. Dig int the connection a bit more and look out of Alex's eyes. He's not going to fight you for them, are you Alex? Just reach through the air with your mind and..."

She saw it. Isabel saw what Alex saw, almost as clearly as if they had been her own eyes. He was looking over at Courtney, not focusing on any part of her, but taking in her immediate surroundings as a whole. Isabel grinned, and let the link lapse - after an instant of dizziness, she was just herself.

"And that's it?" she asked Courtney.

"That's... as much as I can remember," Court admitted with a sad look. "Once the four of you have all connected like that, there are power channels that have to be opened, but I really can't remember anything other than their existence."

"Maybe we can find some way to see a foursquare in action in Copper Summit, without getting our asses kicked," Alex said. "That might help... especially if you can teach the others how you sense what's going on when they're using their powers."

Courtney nodded. "Risky, but maybe. If any of Nicholas' people put together a foursquare, I doubt that they're going to sit there and not try using its power to kick your butt."

"Maybe we could go on the offensive first," Isabel said. "They'd be less likely to attack if they want to keep the protection as tight as possible, yeah? And then, before we get tired out, run away?"

"It could work," Courtney agreed. "Foursquare isn't moveable; that's its biggest liability..." One of the office phones rang. "Yeah, I'd better get that."

Alex stood up. "Want to go take a walk?" he asked Isabel softly.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey?" Max knocked on Michael's open door, and poked his head inside. Michael waved hello from the living room armchair, where he was watching a hockey wrap-up.

"What up, fearless leader?"

"Umm, are you going to get some sleep this afternoon, so you're fresh for the overnight trip and whatever happens tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. And if you're wondering about sleeping here so your parents don't notice, yeah, that'd be cool."

"Thanks. I figure I'll be doing a lot of driving, and I want my head clear for tactical decisions. Good reasons to get as much rest as I can."

Michael thought about that a second and nodded. "You want to sack out right now?"

Max smiled and shook his head. "Need to call my dad, tell him I'm working at the library or something. Hey, hy don't you move your bed in here? It could be like the sleepover party we never had when we were younger."

Michael thought about that, and shrugged. "Okay, after you've made the call why don't you get set up on the couch? And close the curtains tight; maybe we'll be able to psych ourselves into thinking it's night."

It didn't take long for the guys to get everything arranged; Michael turned the television off, but programmed it to come on again at a pre-set time. As Max stretched out on the couch, he was just trying to think of something to talk about when again, a rapping sound rang out on the apartment door, which he'd forgotten to close all the way. "Knock knock, room for one more?" a familiar voice sing-songed.

"Tess?" Max said as she poked her head in. "What are you doing here - you could go to sleep early just as easily at home: we already told Valenti what was going down."

"Umm, that's true," she admitted, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, a small bag hanging from one hand. "But no matter how much sense for us to go to sleep early, if anybody sacks out on the couch in Jim's living room, he's going to worry his head off. It'd be too obvious a reminder that we're heading into big trouble tomorrow. If I'm here, then Kyle can take his room back for a night, which means he'll sleep better and be alert to watch our backs."

Michael considered those points. "Makes sense to me. Come on in."

"Thanks. Also, on a more personal note, I was looking forward to spending some time with you guys before everything goes down, no strings attached. If that's still okay."

Michael exchanged a look with Max and shrugged. Max hesitated. If this was another of Tess' little tricks to try to draw him into 'destiny', he wasn't looking forward to enduring that, but she seemed sincere about wanting some company on the night before a scary mission. He could relate to that.

"You've got your pick," he told Tess, "between the loveseat, which will be a tight fit, or spreading out a foam mattress and a sleeping bag on the floor."

Tess smiled. "The loveseat will be fine. I don't take up much room, and I'm good at sleeping curled up. Had worse on the road with Ed."

Michael laughed. "Got any good secrets for sleeping when you don't feel especially tired?"

Tess slipped past his bed and sat down on the loveseat - the one that Maria had insisted he buy for them to sit in together. "How about this?" She waved at the open space above Michael's coffee table, and a pattern of coloured shapes, glowing softly with different brightness, appeared in mid-air. Max gasped. The colors were slowly rotating, and shifting patterns while they moved, like a kaleidoscope image made into three-D. It was certainly soothing to watch.

"Wow," Michael breathed. "Is it a mind-warp? It seems so real... even the shadows and the patterns it makes on the ceiling."

"Yes, it's real," Tess groused as she settled into the loveseat. "Well, you can't touch it, but tt's real light and real energy moving through the air. It's not a trick that I'm pushing into your brains... I'm good with those, yeah, but they're not the _only_ things I can do." Asking the question had clearly upset her.

"Sorry, sorry," Michael said. "You waved, something improbable appeared out of thin air, and that's the first place my brain went to. I didn't it as an insult."

Tess nodded. "Ed called these 'Torrie-tengs' and said our people made them as sleeping aids. Maybe I should ask Courtney if she's seen any."

"Maybe," Max said. "Don't pester; it's probably not important. Sure pretty to look at though, and I'm already fighting off the urge to-" His yawn spread to the others. "Wonder if it'd work the same way on humans. They're not hard to make?"

"No, I could teach you in a few minutes," Tess said drowsily. "Takes just about no energy to keep it running, too."

"Cool." Michael sighed, stretching out on his stomach. "Gut check time; Are we ready for this?"

Tess didn't reply, and Max drifted in thought for a moment. "We have to be," he answered, with the conviction that seemed to come in crisis. "We can't afford to let them reap the Harvest. And even if these new tricks of Court's don't work out, well, we've accomplished a lot with our specialties and desperation. The three of us - I shield and heal, Michael, you throw force and energy, Tess deceives and dupes them. We'll be okay."

There was a long silence. Max kept his eyes closed because he didn't want to watch the Torrie-teng, fall asleep, and miss hearing someone's reply.

After several seconds, Tess' spoke out with a tiny but clear tone. "I hate that that's my power, my specialty. None of you trusted me from the start, because I didn't grow up here in Roswell with you, and the fact that my best powers are in illusions and deception just make it worse. Every time I make something unreal visible, I can feel you guys edge away from me, as if you're afraid I'd do it to you, like really mess you up. I couldn't, no matter what the stakes... I don't think I've mind-warped anyone for months except when there was no choice, when it was a question of enemy aliens or the government finding us. And even so..." he voice was breaking into soft sobs, "you hold it against me."

Max opened his eyes, and immediately felt the soporific effect of the apparition. Michael was motionless... Max couldn't tell if his best friend was asleep or not. Tess had buried her face in her hands.

Max reached out one hand to touch Tess' arm... and fell asleep in that position. After a few seconds, Tess damped down the colors, tucked Max's arm back to his side, and then stared into the dimmed lights until her own eyes closed.

It took fifteen minutes for the rest of the glowing lights to fade away once they were all resting.

#

The chime of Max's digital watch woke him at 10:30. He shut off the alarm, looked at Michael's living room, and sat up. It only took a few moments to tidy the couch, get his shoes and jacket on, and then he was ready to go back home. For a few seconds Max wondered whether he should try to wake Tess up so that she could sleep on the couch and stretch out more comfortably, but he decided against it. She seemed content where she was, and if she woke up on her own, a bit later, it'd be easy for her to notice that he had left.

After spending a moment to scribble a quick note in pencil by the light of his own glowing hand, he crept through the room, out the front door, and hurried to where he'd parked the Jeep.

#

Michael and Tess woke up when the TV flipped on to a late-night hockey game rerun, at twenty minutes after one in the morning. They took turns in the bathroom, and Tess asked Michael where they should head next when he spotted the note Max had left.

"Head straight out of town at one thirty," he read out loud to Tess. "No unnecessary driving around; you'll pick up Alex and Kyle. I'll get Isabel and go through downtown to give Liz and Courtney a lift. We'll meet up at Highway Mill, just before the county line, and you can switch places with Isabel there. Try my cell once you're ten miles past city limits. Max."

Tess spent a moment absorbing that. "The boy thinks ahead. That'll work out well for us."

"It already has, " Michael agreed. "Okay, let's do this." He turned off the television, and together they hurried out the door and down to Tess' car.

#

Isabel knocked on Max's door, then crept in to shake his shoulders slightly, just like she used to do when they were seven and she wanted his company for early Saturday morning cartoons. Max groaned a little, rolled slightly, and then his eyes open wide. "It's time?"

"Yeah, maybe a little past," she whispered softly. "I thought you'd be up on your own by now."

"Well, I'm almost ready," he said, sitting up. Indeed, he had slept in street clothes, both at Michael's and here, and it was the work of a moment to freshen himself up right there on the bed. "Just let me grab a some snacks for along the way."

"Sure," she said, and followed him downstairs in the quiet of a house that had retired for the night. After about a minute in the kitchen, Max had a light grocery back full of food in one hand and his key-ring in the other. Heading back towards the front door, he realized that Isabel was carrying a much bigger overnight bag.

"Did you pack a change of clothes?" he asked with the trace of a smile, heading out the door.

"Among necessities," she shot back. "This is the first time we've been able to plan for an out-of-town mission, and I wasn't going to waste the chance to be prepared for once." Max shook his head. "It's a girl thing... I bet you Liz will have a bag when we pick her up."

"Well, we'll see."

Liz had her usual school knapsack slung over her shoulder when Max pulled up to the curb outside the Crashdown cafe... which he didn't think qualified for the bet until there was a chance to find out what she had packed. Courtney ran across from the other side of the street; she was carrying nothing at all that he could see, dressed in tight white pants and a blue v-neck top with long sleeves.

None of them said anything until several miles past the city limits sign. Then Courtney idly remarked, "This wasn't the agreed seating arrangement."

"Temporary, for the sake of making a quicker exit," Max explained. "Since Isabel and I were starting at the same place, also Michael and Tess, for him to be riding with us and Isabel with them would have involved two extra pick-ups. We're going to be switching soon... assuming that's okay with you, Isabel."

"What? Oh, sure." Isabel didn't mind spending the trip with Tess or Kyle, and Alex would definitely be good company. She wouldn't have minded riding with Max and Liz either, or Michael... but you had to draw lines somewhere after all.

Liz didn't say anything, but she dropped her hand close enough to Max's thigh that he could feel its presence without touching, and shot him a sidelong look. Max wondered if she was thinking of the last time they had been out this way, a few days ago... to see a fortune teller in Hondo, of all things. Just after they'd slept off some of the fatigue from being out all night, up to Santa Fe and back for the Gomez concert.

Liz was wearing more casual clothes than Courtney, black jeans and a thin navy sweater. She looked as gorgeous as ever, and for a second he felt guilty for taking her into a dangerous situation. But Liz had insisted, and mentally, she seemed to be readier for combat than Max was. She had a spooky sense of the strategic situation, and what parts people they hadn't met would play, ever since their big reunion.

After the odometer clicked over a certain number, Max reached for the console drawer and flicked his cell phone on, waiting for the call from Michael.

#

Alex looked over at Isabel, who was in the back seat of Tess' car. For more than ten minutes now, she had been sitting quite still, staring glassy-eyed at a small photo from her overnight bag. Nervously, he reached over and poked her upper arm.

For many seconds there was no reaction, so that Alex was wondering if she even felt his touch. But then Isabel shuddered, and she looked around the car, confused. She saw Alex watching her, and tucked the photo away. "Umm, hey?" she muttered.

"Sorry to disturb you," Alex whispered. "Were you dream-walking?"

"Yeah."

"Whose dream?"

She hesitated. "My father's. I just wanted to see him and Mom one more time, in case... well, you know. If something really goes wrong tomorrow. Max made me promise not to dream-walk Mom again, because she thinks there's something spooky about me turning up in her dreams watching her. She doesn't know the whole story."

"Yeah, I figured not," Alex said.

"But Dad was dreaming about Mom, so I got to see her too. Mom when she was younger, before they adopted us." She sighed. "Was there a particular reason you shook me out of it?"

"There's a rest stop ahead. You want anything?"

"Yeah, I could go for some snacks. Anyone called Max's car?"

"Nope," Kyle put in from the front passenger seat. "You want to make the call, go ahead."

As the highway lights sped past, Isabel picked up her cell phone and punched a speed-dial. "Hey, Liz?"

There was a soft laugh from the tiny speaker. "Yeah, Isabel?"

"There's a rest stop that Kyle knows a few miles out of town, and we were thinking of stopping for a minute. Your group want to stretch your legs as well?" Both of their cars were just leaving Alamogordo,

"Just a second - I'll check." There were some hushed voices in the other car, and then Liz came on again. "No, we're okay for a little while longer, but you guys go ahead. We don't need to stick so close to each other the whole time, not when we can always stay in touch by phone."

"Ten-four, or whatever." Isabel laughed at herself. "Until next time." She hung up her phone. "They're going to go on ahead."

"Alright," Alex said, and yawned. "I have to admit, I really need to go and use the can."

"Well, that's good timing then," Tess mumbled. "Anyone else want to drive for a spell? My gas-pedal foot is getting cramped."

"Sure, I guess I can," Isabel said after a moment. "And Alex can sit next to me and keep me awake."

After two minutes, they turned into the rest stop - a fairly nice one, but it looked a weird in the artificial light of a highway at the dead of night. There was a small restaurant with a drive-through window, some restrooms, a small 'convenience and gas' store, and an open field nearby. After Tess parked the car, Alex hurried off to the washrooms, and Isabel wandered away to see what was available for her convenience.

Kyle waited to see what Tess would do, and she waved him along and walked out towards the field. "I know that things have been kind of weird for us lately," she said. "We haven't had much time to be alone, what with all of the alien crap."

"Yeah, I know," Kyle agreed. "It's going to be hard to get through everything that's going to happen without letting the others know I want to have my way with you." He laughed softly. "But I'm still not sorry I agreed to come."

"Okay. Well, I'm not sure if we have time to really have our way with each other... but we're alone now." She flashed Kyle a teasing grin and hurried into the field, out of the glare of the artificial lights.

Kyle chased after Tess, caught her once she wasn't running any more, and swept her into a passionate kiss, running his hands over her back.

#

"Where the heck did they go?" Isabel complained once Alex met her at the SUV. He took a moment to look around.

Alex suspected he knew what was delaying Tess and Kyle, if not where they'd gone to mess around, and for a second he wondered about telling Isabel the truth. Then he squashed the notion - Isabel had no need to know, and if he told her, Isabel might talk to Tess about the situation. And he knew that Liz didn't want Tess to know that anybody had found out her secret. "Either they're off arguing or they went to grab takeout."

"Well, they'd better come back soon," Isabel muttered.

"Should we go over and get some more gas in the tank?"

"It hardly seems worth it. Tess must have filled up this afternoon. There's more than three quarters in there."

"Well, then..." Alex stepped up to Isabel, smiling slightly. "Maybe we can occupy ourselves in... other ways." After a moment's pause, he bent to kiss her, and Isabel responded with an eagerness that surprised him. Soon she was leaning back against the side of the car, their bodies pressing into each other. Alex felt the temptation to let his hands wander, but what she had told him about not getting into anything complicated before they'd come back from Arizona rang in his ears. Going beyond kissing seemed like a complication.

But Isabel melted against him as their tongues met...

"Hey, can we go now?" Alex turned to see Tess and Kyle watching them. Tess had a familiar sour expression on her face, but somehow tonight it seemed like a put-on, a false mask to keep them from noticing other things. Like how her face was flushed almost red, and both of them walked a bit funny as they got into the back seats. Alex tried not to smile too knowingly as he took shotgun.

"Go to the drive-through window before getting back on the highway?" Kyle asked. Isabel shot him one slightly puzzled look in the rear-view mirror, sighed, and headed over toward the fast-food place. Each of them ended up ordering enough munchies to last clear through to Grant county.

#

Liz stared out the window, as the morning twilight began to break. It was at this time of the morning, only a few days ago, that she had met a mysterious time traveller in the park for the last time...

"Hey, Liz." It was Courtney saying her name from the back seat. "Do you mind if we talk a little? I'm kinda bored, and - well, still confused about where you fit into all this."

Liz shrugged. "Ask what you will." This might help, either for Courtney to get a better sense of her role in the 'club', or to understand where Courtney herself was coming from.

"Okay, well... you were shot, and Max healed you. What did he say? Were you a part of the group from then on, involved in- whatever unearthly things you guys were doing back then?"

Liz smiled, looking over at Max as he drove. "That's a lot of questions for one go. Let's see... he told me that he was 'not of this earth' the day after he healed me... because I managed to swipe some of his cells and look at them under a microscope. I didn't know what I would find, of course. And, because Jim Valenti was trying to figure out if there were aliens loose in Roswell, I used the threat of going to Jim with what little I knew as leverage to get more info out of him later. I told Maria, and we helped to throw Jim off Max's scent and confuse the situation, but we weren't a part of the group then, no. Max, Michael, and Isabel were too used to keeping their secrets among themselves."

"It would have been... Marathon, that changed things a little. Do you mind if I tell her about that, Michael?" Liz could see Courtney looking at the other side of the back seat, and Michael opened his eyes and looked back and forth between the two girls.

"No, go ahead. I'll jump in if you get slanderous," he said.

"Well, Michael had gotten hold of a clue - a key from Valenti's personal collection of UFO stuff, and when he touched the key he got a flash of a geodesic dome house, possibly the same as one in Marathon, Texas where this UFO expert, Atherton lived. Michael wanted to go with Max and Isabel, but they didn't agree, so he ended up, umm, convincing Maria to go with him to Marathon. Maria called me from the road, Isabel overheard the conversation, so she and Max went after them because they thought Michael would do something foolish and draw attention to all of them. I talked them into taking me along because if they were worried about Michael, then I was worried about Maria. We found them in a motel room somewhere along the highway, and that's when Kyle barged in, wanting to know what the hell was going on. Kyle had his own suspicions about Max back then, and blamed Max for the fact that I'd dumped him."

"I talked Kyle into going back to Roswell, and then I demanded that the three of them start telling Maria and I everything, because we were a part of the situation and we couldn't protect them if we didn't know what we were trying to protect them from. That's when it started to be the five of us. Alex, Tess, and Kyle all came later. Does that answer your questions?"

"Umm, yeah," Courtney said with a smile, and looked back at Michael.

They were all silent for almost a minute, and then Liz's cell phone rang. She almost hit the talking button and put it to her ear, but by sheer chance happened to catch the name showing on its tiny screen - and dropped the phone in surprise. Max hit the brakes slightly, shocked in his turn, and Liz bobbled, trying to catch the little gadget and bounced it onto the jeep's dash.

"It's one of my parents!" she told him, stunned and appalled. "At not quite six AM - they must have found out that I wasn't at home in bed."

"Don't answer it," Max said. "They'll worry, yeah, but nothing we can tell them will make the situation any better." Liz managed to retrieve the phone and let it ring on, and on and on, until finally there was silence. "Call the other car, let them know that we're on silent running now - no one leaves cell phones on except for designated check-in times. Next check-in at seven."

"What about if there's a crisis?" Courtney said. "It's not likely, before we get to Arizona, but..."

"I can leave my pager on," Michael suggested. "Only Max, Isabel, and Maria have the number. Tess has one too, and even if one of the parents manages to track our numbers down, it wouldn't be obvious that we're deliberately refusing to call back."

"That sounds good." Max nodded. "Get it done."

#

Tess' SUV turned headed off the interstate, around a corner, and pulled into the restaurant parking lot. About three minutes later, the Jeep followed. All eight of them were soon out and walking around the parking lot, stretching away minor aches and cramps, and saying hello to the people who had ridden three hundred miles in the other vehicle.

"Okay, we're more than halfway there," Courtney said, as the group gathered into a circle. "Not far from here to the Arizona state line, and then it's only a hundred miles further, but some of that is going to be away from the main roads and slower going. We can take a break here for breakfast and still be in position well before one PM."

"I have to make a rendezvous in Safford," Liz added. "To meet our mark and give her the camera to take into the memorial service." She showed it to Courtney and Max, neither of whom had seen the micro-surveillance device since she'd managed to redesign it to look like a kind of broach.

"Isn't that a little obvious?" Michael said.

"I don't think so," Isabel said. "I've seen jewellery that looked much odder. Of course, I **know** that what I'm looking at is a camera, but someone without any suspicions should miss it."

"Plus, this seemed the best way to make sure that she keeps it open and visible," Liz suggested. "I've got a patter line ready about how the Society will consider it a mark of respect, especially Vanessa's family, just so that she'll make sure to let them see it."

"As long as none of _them_ clue in," Max mumbled. "Well, it's worth a try - unless someone wants to make the argument that we'd be smarter 'banking' the camera for another time, rather than risk losing it now." He seemed to be hoping that someone would speak up. "Alright, Liz, do your best."

Isabel was a little worried about going into a public place, but none of them seemed to be that out of place in "The long open road," (which was the name of the establishment.) There was even another, smaller group of teenagers on the other side of the dining room - local high schoolers who liked going out to the roadside restaurant for a bite to eat before school, or maybe dropouts on a road trip... there was no way to tell. The breakfast menu was extensive, and nobody was worried too much about spending money, though when Kyle started to ruminate on getting a third tall stack of pancakes, Michael warned him that eating too much and getting indigestion was not really the best thing since they had a long way to drive yet and then evil aliens to deal with. Kyle satisfied himself by nibbling on whole wheat toast.


	7. Chapter 7

Michael gave Max a sidelong look. "I think our best chance is the alleyway."

Max nodded. "Okay, we run down the alleyway between the buildings. I'm carrying the husk, Michael is leading the way, and Liz is watching out behind us. That sound alright, Liz?"

"Yeah, I'm good for the rear guard," Liz said.

"Okay, umm..." Courtney considered this. "Michael, spin one to twenty-five." Michael took Max's watch, (which had a chronometer that could measure milliseconds,) started it, waited a few breaths, and stopped it without looking at the reading. "Twenty-three! Last digits four and eight on a one to twenty-five spin is twenty-three, right?"

"Yeah, okay. You're two thirds of the way down the alley when hidden doors appear from both sides just ahead of you. A little boy emerges from the left first, followed ten older men and women, five from each side. Nobody says anything, but everyone else gathers in a loose formation behind the boy and he starts chuckling. Michael, you notice something odd, but can't say what."

"Liz, take cover," Max suggested.

"Is there any cover around?" she asked Courtney.

"Not really. The walls of the buildings are smooth, and you're twenty feet from the end of the alley that you entered from."

"No sign of any other hidden doors in the wall?"

"Nothing that you can spot at a moment's glance," Courtney said.

"Dammit. Okay." Liz let out a breath. "I hang back, crouching low so as to present as small a target as possible, and watch what happens. Oh, and if I can, I'll search the wall near me for any hidden triggers or switches."

"If you're watching the action and searching the wall at the same time, you're not going to do a very good job of either," Courtney warned.

"That's okay, I'm still going to try to split my attention," Liz decided. Courtney nodded.

"I'm going to try penetrating a mind-warp," Michael decided. "That might be the something odd. Spin again?"

"Yes, please, one to twenty-five." Michael 'spun' the stopwatch again. "Dammit, only a nine."

"Okay... you're pretty sure that there's a mind-warp, and that the little kid is really there. The adults behind him you're not so sure about... there's some kind of mind-warp in that area."

"I shield," Max said.

"Okay. Blocking off the entire passage between you and them?" Courtney clarified. Max nodded. "The shield is up. None of them do anything, just stare at you threateningly."

"Our turn again?" Michael asked.

"Almost; Liz, you haven't found anything of interest on the wall yet. Okay, Michael."

Michael turned to Max. "I think I know what I'm doing. Drop the shield when I give you the signal, okay? Courtney, once the shield is down, I immediately fire a heavy bolt of energy at the little kid... focusing it on his legs... trying to cripple him, not kill. Then we all run past him as fast as we can. The others aren't really there - only mind-warps. Got it?"

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Liz muttered, but nobody commented on that.

"Okay, dropping the shield... now," Max told Courtney.

"The shield is down. Michael, roll to strike." He did and showed her the result. "The little kid's legs are blasted out from under him; he's stunned, and might be badly hurt. You start to run... and Max, the adults shoot you with a swarm of energy bolts..." Courtney rolled herself, a few times over. "The husk you're carrying is damaged somewhat. You're seriously hurt and fall down."

"Hey!" Michael complained. "They're not real."

"Sorry, they're quite real. One of them grabs you and pins you up against the wall."

"Dammit," Michael swore. "I use kinesis to throw him away from me."

"Spin for kinesis... okay, you throw that one across the alley into the other wall, mild injury from his collision with the bricks, but the other Skins have you surrounded now. One of them uses that handprint of death strike..." Courtney spun. "You're dead, Michael. Liz, one of them runs toward you. What do you do?"

"Does it really matter?" she mumbled, horrified by how the mission had fallen apart so suddenly.

"Yeah, what the hell was that trick?" Michael said sourly. "The mind-warp that wasn't?"

"It was a nasty surprise, but that's the sort of thing that Nicholas will pull on you when he gets a chance," Courtney insisted. "What he was actually doing was mind-warping a small rock on the ground in the middle of the other aliens. He suspected that you had some mind-warp detection ability and figured that you were naive enough to jump to the obvious conclusion."

"Okay, well, we're toast - again." Max sighed. "And Courtney... well, we've been at this for hours now, since breakfast."

"You want to quit and take a break?"

"No - but how about a new scenario, and a new games-master this time? I understand why you're being so mean and picking on us this much... but maybe someone else could be just a little bit less strict and give the good guys a chance to win."

"Well, I'm not giving either of you guys the reins of power," Courtney muttered. "Liz can take a turn if she wants... I don't think she'll abuse the prerogative."

Liz blinked. "Sure, but not at the same time as I'm driving. How about I pull off to the side when it looks good, and Max, you can take the wheel. That'll let me put Michael and Courtney on the hot seat."

Max grinned. "Sure."

No-one said much as Liz continued driving, looking for a good place to pull off onto the shoulder of the road. Finally she stopped the Jeep, well away from traffic, and everybody played musical chairs.

"Okay, let's see... I'd rather move away from the specific copper summit scenarios that Court was doing," Liz started. "Do something a little further afield... you've drilled on Skins-town about as much as you can, and the tactical lessons come up about the same anywhere. So, err... you've discovered that a secret anti-Alien air force squad is holding an important item from the crash site in a secret bunker, and the mission is to retrieve it. Suspect that one or more aliens loyal to Kivar might have infiltrated the squad. All members of the gang are available for this scenario, including myself. Questions?"

"Umm... this item," Michael said almost immediately. "How big are we talking about?"

Liz concentrated on the question for a moment. "Two and a half feet long, six inches wide, three inches high. Weighs fifteen pounds."

"So it's dense," Max commented. "Where's the bunker?"

"Somewhere up in the Rocky foothills of Wyoming, but you don't really know more until you **get there.**" Liz stressed the last words.

"Okay, got it," Michael said. "Let's get this show on the road. We can ask background questions as they come up, right?" Liz nodded. "I'll take Tess as a secondary playing character."

"Cool. I'll take Isabel," Max said. "Unless you wanted her, Courtney."

"Nah, that's alright I think," she decided. "I don't know you guys as much as you know each other, so I think I'll go without any secondary characters. Unless Liz will let me pick one of my alien friends."

"Not this time, I think. Maybe next go round."

"It's cool."

"So Isabel and Tess have been claimed. Is this going to be an aliens-only sortie, or is anybody going to claim one of us humans?" Liz teased.

"Well Liz, you're generally good in a crisis, I'll take you in," Michael said with a mischievous tone in his voice.

Max shot him a look in the rear-view mirror, then shrugged. "All right, Alex will be good in a situation like this, especially his talent for electronics... as long as he doesn't do anything foolish. I'll grab him."

"Nobody speaking up for Maria, or Kyle?" Liz asked, and waited a second. "Okay then."

"Okay," Max said. "Well, we've got seven people, so we head up in... well, in two cars I guess. The Jeep and, umm..." It was obvious that he was unwilling to draft Tess' car, because that would make the mission start off a little bit too much like their real one.

"Hey, I've got wheels," Courtney put in. "Only a little two-door, but I can take a few people."

"Okay." Michael chuckled softly. "Liz and Tess can ride with you. That should be fun." He didn't see the somewhat nasty grin that appeared on Liz's face when he said that.

"Alright, you drive up and find the bunker. What next?" Liz asked.

"We park at a safe distance and monitor," Michael said. "Watch it for **several** hours, trying to find out as much as we can without getting into danger."

"Good," Liz told him. Nobody else volunteered something else or corrected, so after a moment she started to tell him about the guard schedules and what they could make out of the bunker grounds from outside surveillance.

They played that scenario for a little while, until there were signs on the road mentioning the proximity of Safford, and Liz reminded Max that she had an appointment to keep there. Once they entered the town, the four of them worked together to find the little coffee shop where Liz would meet one of Whittaker's biggest supporters on the Roswell town council, and give her the disguised micro-camera.

#

#

"Okay, Liz couldn't even work up the nerve to knock, so I reached with my powers, slid the chain out of the door, and tried the doorknob," Isabel said, a smile on her face. "It wasn't even locked. There was a flurry of motion before Liz could switch the lights on, and right down there, beside the bed, Maria was lying down on top of Michael, like full body contact. And Liz said Maria's name and she scrambles away and asks what we're doing there." Tess giggled softly.

"Liz was clearly not sure what was going, and mumbled something about how we thought that she'd been in trouble but apparently we were wrong, and Maria gets as embarrassed as anything and tries to get Michael to tell us that nothing, umm, nothing physical was happening between them. Michael... well, he's just such a smartass, he goes 'come on, honey, we don't have to lie to them.' Maria's mouth dropped open and she started to girl-slap him, and I guess I took pity on her then, and wanted to get in a dig at Michael, so I said that I believed her, because the day that Michael calls a girl honey, it was all over."

Kyle nodded. "It wasn't much later that that I made my entrance, right?"

Isabel jumped slightly. "Yeah - you know, I forgot that you were following us that night."

Kyle shrugged. "I wanted to know what was going on. Maybe I should have left my stupid nose out of it."

"Maybe not," Tess whispered.

"I wonder what would've happened if I'd been in the same history class with you guys," Alex said. "If I had to do an oral history on someone, I might have gotten mixed up in the whole Marathon marathon. Instead... you know, that week I think I was stuck trying to construct a scale model of the capture of Santa Fe with Dick Langdon." Isabel laughed. "We couldn't get our toy soldiers to stand straight, and ended up with a C plus."

"Okay, we're getting pretty close," Tess muttered. "Time to break phone silence and figure out where we're rendezvousing for surveillance."

No-one in the Jeep had their cell phones on, so Isabel called in a message to Michael's pager to get Max to call her. They were still eight miles behind Tess' car, because of having to stop in Safford. But Courtney suggested a good place to turn off to a never-used driveable trail that would take them most of the way around town.

#

"Okay, I've been thinking about strategy and tactics a lot on the way up here," Courtney said. They were standing in a rough cluster between the two cars, parked away from the main road into Copper Summit. "First off... while I appreciate that all of you guys came this long way too and want a share in the action, it makes sense for me to be going alone into the deepest danger. I have the most experience using powers in combat, and the least to lose from exposure. If any of your faces get recognized, say, from photos that Whittaker might have sent back to Nicholas before she was killed, it'll tell him a lot, with direct consequences to how soon and how much we can expect a counterattack to come to Roswell."

"Even if you aren't recognized as such, the fact that unfamiliar faces are involved in an attack will tell them a lot. They know me, though, and anybody who doesn't still think I'm a good little soldier will be expecting me to pull a crazy stunt like this. The rest of you can help in a lot of ways... but I don't want you going into the town unless there is literally no other way to salvage the objective."

Michael and Isabel looked to Max, who considered this for a long time. "You make a good point, Courtney," Max said. "Does anybody have a rebuttal?" Nobody spoke up. "Alright, then, you're on point and we're supporting you. We can take out perimeter guards... monitor the situation and contact you with important updates, create diversions. Is there anything else?"

"Not yet." Courtney considered. "Do we have anything that I can use to make a map?"

"Try this." Kyle reached into the back seat of Tess' car and tossed over a Kleenex box. Courtney shot a look at Tess, who shrugged, and then yanked half the Kleenex out of the box. Concentrating, she morphed it until it became a piece of cardboard paper, maybe three feet by four. With gestures, she sketched out roads, hills, and buildings, the darker markings appearing out of nowhere as she waved her hands. "The funeral will be held here, in the League headquarters. Our target is just across the road," and she tapped a nearby building. "The husk hydroponic life-support system is in the back of the stagecoach museum. It'll be guarded, but hopefully Nicholas won't be leading the guard during the memorial service."

Michael nodded. "And the mission is to retrieve your Husk safely and kill all the others, right?" he asked.

Courtney nodded, and looked quietly around the circle.

"Okay, question," Alex said. "If all of the husks are in this fancy growth support system, then will it... be okay to take it out? I mean, will it survive?"

"We think so," Max said.

"I've talked this over with Liz, and with Tess," Courtney added. "The fancy gear in Copper Summit is overkill. The husks are only a day or two away from being fully grown; all that they need is warmth, moist, and a basic nutrient solution. So we've created our own support chamber in the trunk of Tess' car."

"That leads to another question," Liz said. "If the husks can survive on their own so well, then how do you kill them? If you can just break open one tank and pull out your own Husk, then can't the other Husks survive even if you ruin the life support system?"

"That depends on how it gets ruined," Michael replied with a smile. He'd been working with Courtney on this part. "Because the life support system is overcomplicated, there are a few ways to tamper with it and kill all the Husks that are still rigged up to the system, at the same time, and quickly. The easiest would be the saline governor - dump way too much dissolved salt into the tanks. The husks can't handle that."

"Yeah," Courtney said. "I brought along some useful parts... hoping to rig up a time-delay that I can attach to the saline governor before escape from the museum with my new skin. This close to the harvest, all of us have a vague psychic link to the Husks. When they start to die, the Skins who are attending the memorial service will know it."

"Okay, Max and I can help with your sabotage tool." Alex waved a hand as he volunteered.

"Yeah," Max said. "Everyone else, get started on surveillance. We want to know as much as possible about the guard patterns."

"I have good binoculars and some other surveillance gear," Courtney said. "Leave the mental surveillance techniques as a last resort. They might be detected, by our enemies, and then they'd know someone is out here watching them."

Max, Alex, and Courtney started to futz with electronic timers and miniature motors, and Liz took a pair of high-powered binoculars with a heavy heart. These were dirty tools, she just knew it - either stolen, or purchased with stolen money. But they were necessary.

#

Max was just getting back from an watching the perimeter of the town when Tess came up to him. "I got a 'yellow alert' page from Maria."

"Okay." Max fumbled out his cell phone and turned it on, wondering why Maria had chosen to page Tess. Then he realized that Michael had the other pager. Maria must still be really pissed at Michael. He dialled quickly.

There wasn't even a full ring on Max's end of the line before Maria began talking. "Max? Thank god, I've been trying to reach you guys... seems like forever. There's a new development."

"Umm... what's the word?" he asked, hurrying toward Liz and Courtney.

"This just in, from the Arizona cable news station. A state judge in the county seat -Florence, Arizona, has issued a court order for the Copper Summit Universal Friendship League to surrender the last remains of Vanessa Whittaker, so that she can have a funeral service in New Mexico. Two court bailiffs are on their way to Copper Summit, along with a TV news crew."

"Oh, boy." Max's mind was spinning. "You didn't have any advance hint of this from the office? Nobody mentioned going to an Arizona court?"

"Not to me; you might want to ask Courtney."

"Well, unless there's anything else important, I'd better tell the rest of the gang and figure out how this affects our strategy, okay?"

"Not a problem. Best of luck and keep safe."

"See you when we get back to town." Max hung up, and quickly told everyone who was within earshot, (which was most of the gang, excepting Alex and Isabel.).

"I understand why you're worried, Max," Liz said. "It's a rotten position to put those poor people in, but I doubt that the aliens of Copper Summit would hurt them under the circumstances... that would just make people more interested in investigating them, right when they can least afford scrutiny. And it'll be an effective diversion for Courtney to use."

"We need to be triply careful that they don't realize we're out here," Michael added. "Or the skins might get the idea to frame us for the death of the bailiffs and the news-people. Hit two birds with one stone."

"We're not going to give them the chance," Max said. "Okay, I'm on board with synchronizing our own operations to take advantage of any distraction this court order provides. There's a portable TV in the Jeep, someone can watch that and see if a local channel is covering the progress of the bailiffs towards town. If not, we can call Maria back, 'cause we need better timing information."

"I'm on tube duty," Kyle announced, jumping into the back seat of the Jeep and looking for the TV.

"Okay." Tess turned to Courtney. "There are an awful lot of guards on duty outside of town. It looks like four concentric rings, of five, four, four, and three people respectively, going from outside to innermost. First one rotates clockwise, the next one counter-clockwise, the third are stationary sentries, and the last go clockwise again. All of them have some kind of communication gear, though we can't make out the details. Do we need to eliminate any of them before you start in?"

"No, that's too risky," Courtney said. "Someone has got to be checking in on them, and if they don't report right, security further in will be ramped up even if they have to take people out of the memorial. I should be able to sneak in alright, especially if you're on call to cloak me with an empty mind-warp when there's no other choice."

"These guards won't have mind-warp perception?" Max asked.

"Some of them will, but it's not a perfect defence. They'll spend a precious few moments trying to figure out if something is hiding from them. With that giving me the advantage of surprise, I'll get through one way or another." Courtney's voice was grim. "It's on the way out that I expect you'll need to clear a path."

"We'll do our best," Michael said.

"Oh, hi guys," Alex called from fifteen feet away. "What's the latest?"

#

Alex knocked on the car door, which Isabel had left ajar. "Hey... how're you doing?"

She looked up at him. "I'm not bad. You can come inside if you like."

Alex did, and Isabel shuffled aside to make room for him. "So... do you think you're ready for this?" he asked

"I have to be."

"You know, that's something that people have been saying over and over again lately. It's like you're all terrified to admit that there might be something you're not ready for. Not to imply that I don't think you're ready, but..."

Isabel thought about that for a second. "Well, I can see how you might think that, but to me it's something different. I mean, looking back at everything that we've accomplished because we literally had no other hope - that's pretty remarkable stuff. And, well, I can't believe that I'm actually quoting Yoda, but: 'Do or do not. There is no try.' Weirdly, it's like that."

Alex put his arm around her. "Just do it!"

Isabel giggled. "Yeah, that works too."

The training that Courtney had put Isabel through, back from their very first meeting as a group on Sunday afternoon, had been gruelling in a very different way than the others had had to contend with. She had been excited to hear about Isabel's experience with dream-walking and contacting the minds of others, and had drilled her in more advanced techniques strictly... possibly because Courtney had known, even back then, what the plan would require.

As Courtney went into town alone, Isabel would have to follow the Skin girl with her thoughts. There would be no other way of maintaining contact - even a cell phone would not give complete information, and Courtney wouldn't be able to spare a hand to hold one. This would be more intense than Isabel's only previous experience reaching the mind of someone who was awake and lucid at the time - which had been agent Pierce. That time, she had only had to get in for a split second, and catch a few mental images. Now... well, she wouldn't need to be inside Courtney's mind the whole time, but she would have to keep an open 'line' of connection and use it at regular intervals.

"Can I have a kiss, for good luck?" she blurted out.

"If you think that's worth anything," he joked, and they turned to each other and shared a simple kiss on the lips.

"It's worth a lot more than you think," she said, and leaned back.

"Isabel?" Courtney called her away from the car. "Come on - I'm going in!"

Alex and Isabel hurried out of the SUV. "You're going now?" Tess asked Courtney. "The bailiffs are still ten minutes away."

"They're close enough," Courtney insisted. "The memorial service is starting, and the best window for sneaking through between the guard rotations will be in... forty seconds. I intend to take it!"

"Alright," Michael said. "Good luck." And to everyone's surprise, even his own, he kissed her.

"Umm... thanks babe." She looked out around a rock, saw one Skin guard disappear in the distance, and started to run.


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you see him?"

Liz looked at the small screen. She knew she had the best chance of identifying Nicholas Crawford from the spy camera, since she had heard two descriptions; one by Max's future self nearly a week ago, and the other by Courtney. "Just a sec... come on, lady, turn a little to your left... yeah, there he is! A short little boy, with spiky hair - it has to be him."

"The scariest alien of them all is Bart Simpson?" Alex mumbled under his breath.

Michael glowered, and then his mouth twitched. "Well, it would explain that one Halloween episode, I guess" he said. "The one where Bart turned Homer into a Jack-in-the-box just by looking at him." Alex grinned.

Max shook his head slightly. "We've spotted Nicholas at the funeral," he called. "Pass it on when you can."

"Is he anywhere near an exit?" Isabel yelled back. After a short pause she added, "That was Courtney's question."

"Not near, but not that far away either. He'd be noticed if he made a quick exit, but none of the non-residents attending the funeral would be able to stop him... even if they tried."

Isabel nodded, so Liz returned to watching the video, looking for other key Skins that Courtney described. "That's Greer leading the service... and the old man and woman next to Nicholas might be Walt and Ida."

"That would make sense," Tess muttered.

"Good news if you're right about all that," Michael decided. "That would mean that the only ones Courtney needs to worry about standing guard at the stagecoach museum are second-stringers."

Liz sighed. "Well, she did say there were a bunch of goons who were nothing to sneeze at with combat powers... and I couldn't recognize them anyway. Plus, if the alarm goes off - League HQ is right across the street from the stagecoach museum. Nicholas and Ida could be there... more quickly than I like."

Max reached out and put a hand on her arm. "It's one thing to see problems before they happen, but don't let yourself get bent out of shape, love," he said quietly, but not quietly enough for the others to be unaware of his words. Liz looked up at Max, smiled at the reassurance she found in his steady gaze, and then became quite aware that someone else was staring at her intently. Tess. If her pale blue eyes had been any more intense, Liz would have laser scorch marks on her face.

Kyle interrupted the awkward tableau. "News crew is passing the town limits." He walked close, the portable television in his left hand. "That should make things... exciting in Copper Summit."

"How's she doing, Isabel?" Max asked.

"Still waiting for the right moment to slip past the last guard detail... oh, she's on the move now."

Max stepped away from Liz. "Okay. Kyle, let me see the broadcast. Liz, let me know if anything important comes up on the spy-cam."

"Of course, Max," she said. Tess moved close behind Liz, looking over her shoulder at the digital display. Was that a deliberate or subconscious move to share in Liz's role, to challenge her since Max had shown Liz affection in public? _Well, I'd rather have her here than trying to snuggle up to Max as he watches the mini TV I suppose,_ Liz decided, and concentrated on the screen herself.

#

"We've got trouble!"

The words came from Liz and Isabel at nearly the same time.

Max's head shot back and forth between them, concern flooding his face. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Liz said, "but people are moving inside the League hall. I... I've lost sight of Nicholas, and Ida's heading for an exit."

"Damn," Michael muttered. "Isabel, what does Court know?"

"Just that someone shouted an alarm." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "It came from the stagecoach museum after she snuck out. Maybe someone noticed that her husk is missing."

Max shook his head. He hadn't known that Courtney had even made her way into the Husk hiding place under the stagecoach museum, never mind back out again. "Umm..."

"We've got to do something, Max," Liz said. "I'm not sure what, though..."

Max looked at the rest of them, and even though the situation called for decisive action, his mind was blanking. Fighting back the rising panic didn't help.

"Max, I have an idea," Michael said. All eyes turned to him. "Not the best idea, but we don't have time for that. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yeah, give me what you've got," Max said.

"Well, we've got two problems now. One is that they're going to be combing the town for Courtney, and they'll probably find her before she can get out safely. The second is that they may start coming out, to see if anyone is out here in the desert. So we split up. Umm..." Michael frowned, taking a moment to mentally divide the team. "Max, you and Tess should stay here, because guarding our retreat, the vehicles, Tess' car especially, is our only hope. Liz, Kyle, and Alex can help you."

"Leaving you and Isabel to go into Copper Summit after Courtney?" Alex asked, frowning.

"Yeah, I know man, but... I'll get her back to you safely, even if it kills me," Michael replied, his voice low.

"Third problem," Kyle said. "If the alarm's been sounded - what if they find the booby trap? I assume that Courtney planted it already."

"Well, we'll see what we can do about that while we're there," Michael muttered. "At this point - I don't think that destroying the Harvest is worth sacrificing anyone. Our priority is to rescue Courtney and get out safe... does that sound right?" There was some silent nodding.

"How are you going to get into town?" Tess asked. "You can't run there in time... that'll take too long. Especially since you'd have to avoid guards along the way. And you can't take the wheels." All the ground between their base camp and town was rough and rocky - completely un-drivable, even with the jeep's four-wheeling abilities. "You need something with some zip."

"Yeah, I'm on that," Michael said. "Max, I need to remodel the Jeep. I'll put it back the way it was when I'm done, 'kay?" Totally shocked now, Max could do nothing but nod. Michael turned to the car and lifted his hand. Objects started to fly away from it and land on the ground... first luggage from inside, and then pieces of the vehicle - tires and doors and the like.

"What are you doing?" Isabel asked, once her mouth wasn't hanging open.

"Take shotgun," Michael said. "As Tess said, we need 'zip.'" Michael got into the driver's seat, turned the key in the ignition, and concentrated. As Isabel got into the passenger seat, it went from lower than usual (because of the missing tires) to slightly higher than ever above the ground. What was left of the Jeep was floating in midair!

Before Isabel had absorbed this notion, the vehicle surged forward, accelerating crazily. "Remember Michael," Max called out, "the news crew is in town now! Don't let them get a shot of you like this." His voice faded out behind them.

"If there's anything you can do to distract the guards, that'd be a big help," Michael muttered to Isabel.

"That's Tess' specialty," she muttered, but at the same time she understood what Michael had been saying about how it was more important for Tess to be guarding the others - including Alex.

"Yeah, but... can't your mind-talking bugaboo help too? If you can let Courtney know something important by slipping it into the back of her mind, can't you slip something distracting or startling into their heads the same way? And if all else fails, fall back on the Isabel Evans shove." He laughed deeply.

"Well, I guess we're going to find out," Isabel said. They were approaching one of the guards in the first perimeter. He wasn't facing them, but they were getting closer and it would be only seconds before he heard the hover-Jeep's, which wasn't moving silently.

Isabel closed her eyes and let the stress of the situation wash away, more easily than she expected it to. Now what? What Tess did and what she had been learning to do was similar... using their powers to interface with someone else's brain or nervous system and introduce new signals. But Tess could work directly with the sense channels - sight and sound, maybe others. Isabel had never been able to create such an immediate, vivid reaction, and she didn't mean to start trying now.

From dream-walking, what she had learned was touching someone's subconscious mind... that incredibly complicated mass of grey matter at the top and back of the cerebrum, uncovered by the brain's self-analysis systems, because it _was_ the analysis system, and if there was going to be anything else capable of analyzing it, people's heads would have to be three times as big.

The point was that the subconscious was the source of daydreams and the little whispering voices in someone's head that they weren't expecting. If Isabel could plant the right material, so that it would be triggered and experienced by this Skin at the right moment - she had to try it. Mentally, she whispered, "What's the disturbance about? Are we under attack by a bigger army? Am I ready for whatever's about to come at me?" And she sent in an image... basing it on the Hover-Jeep, but imagining hundreds of hover battle-craft charging across the desert, weapons at the ready.

The guard turned around, saw them, and yelped, dashing cover. Isabel chuckled to herself a little nastily... things could have been difficult if he'd been shrewder and not fallen for the trick so easily, but this would do.

It had taken more effort than she expected. On the next ring of the perimeter defence, she asked Michael to blast one of them out of the way, and used a wave of invisible force to knock another Skin down. By the time they dragged themselves back up again, the Hover-Jeep was long gone.

#

"Okay, so what about us?" Kyle said.

Liz shot a look over at Max. "We've got the rock for cover." Tess had parked her car behind a large, jagged desert hill, twenty feet high above them and twice as broad. What was left of the Jeep was right next to it. "Max and I will take one side of it, Tess, you take the other and... pick one of the guys to help you lookout there."

Tess smiled faintly. "Okay, Valenti, you're with me, once again."

Alex nodded, "I guess that leaves me as rear lookout, just in case they try something really sneaky like circling around and attacking us from the opposite direction to town."

"Yeah," Max agreed. "Don't do anything risky, okay? If you see something, just shout loudly enough that we can hear and get yourself under cover if you can." Alex nodded.

"Max." Kyle shifted his eyes back and forth slightly. "I took this from my dad's cabinet back home, just in case." From the waistband of his jeans, under an oversized t-shirt, he brought out an automatic pistol.

Max looked at the gun and shuddered. "Put it away," he suggested. "Remember what Courtney said about these guys... gunshots hardly faze them, unless you manage to hit the seal from behind them."

"Still, it's got stopping power," Kyle said. "That could buy Tess a moment to counterattack." But he tucked the gun away despite his own objections.

Liz waited as Max peered around the edge of the hill, and then turned back. "What did you see?"

"Several of the perimeter guards are forming a search party. I think they've been ordered to figure out if anybody else is waiting out here, since the the hover-Jeep came from this direction." He took a deep breath. "There's another group coming out from the town in this general direction... I don't know if they're going to come after us too or just replace the others on guard duty."

"I think that they'll leave as many people guarding the town, or more," Alex said. "To make sure and catch the intruders on their way out, or more reinforcements coming in."

"Well, our job is to take out this group before they get too close," Tess said. "Max?"

Max thought about it. "We'll wait until they're within seventy feet of the rock. I'll give you a count of three, Tess."

"I got it." They waited as the enemy aliens moved closer, cautiously but at a decent clip. "Three, two -" Max let 'one' go by silently, and on the count of zero he stepped out and aimed for the lead Skin. He had already prepared his weapon... a cylinder floating in his cupped hand, made out of air but turned into a carefully tailored crystal. He pointed that tube, concentrated, and a beam of violet light speared out toward his enemy, catching her in the bare midsection revealed by a cut-off blouse that clashed with her hard-edged thirty-something face.

Several things were happening at once. The rock near Max shook and made an ugly rumbling sound. A baseball of yellow fire slammed into the ground amidst the skins, setting two of them ablaze. One skin who looked like a fiftyish-man counterattacked, throwing a fork of jagged green lightning towards Tess' side of the rock.

Max kept the laser going for several seconds; the woman he hit seemed fixed in place, unable to throw herself aside or escape the terrible beam. Then ripple spread across her body, and she melted into a curtain of silver dust. The two burning skins were still trying to put out the flames licking at their clothes, but neither of them seemed to have been hurt badly yet.

A stone bigger than Max's head dropped from the shuddering crags above him, but he was able to dodge it, ducking back out of sight, and then the shaking stopped. Max took a moment to check and make sure that Liz was okay, and called a quick query over to Tess about her own status. "Yeah, doing all right," she replied, panting. "The lightning bolt was scary, but not aimed well. You've got the edge on me though, fireball was a bust."

"Yeah," he said, trying to decide on his own strategy. The laser beam had worked once - did that mean it was a good tactic to repeat right away, or switch to a new attack form in case someone had prepared a laser defence?

He poked his head out, fired the laser beam... and yelped as it reflected back over his shoulder. The Skin he'd been aiming at had developed a defence... in an instant he'd turned the air in front of him mirror-reflective. Max had been hoping that they wouldn't expect him to be that predictable, but maybe they'd guessed at the practical reasons for repeating the same attack: that the energy to construct the laser tube in the first place had already been spent, and it had been proven effective, while another tactic might prove to not have the necessary teeth.

Another Skin shot an energy burst at him, but Max didn't dash for cover. He let the laser tube melt into thin air and concentrated on another attack that Courtney had mentioned to him. Trying to find a handful of nitrogen molecules in the air near him, he went through the motions of pushing them. If the weight of the particles was low enough, he should be able to accelerate them close to light-speed...

The 'mirror' Skin, who Max had been aiming at, sort of exploded, his body erupting into scattered pieces that faded into ash. Grinning despite the fact that he was suddenly finding it hard to breathe, Max turned to the energy burst Skin and blew him away similarly. He tried to blast the one that had thrown lightning at Tess, but the exertion was too much, and suddenly everything was fading to murky darkness before his eyes. His knees buckles, sending him sprawling onto his rear end.

Panic swam through Max's mind - even though he wasn't presenting a huge target, (getting down was a good way of avoiding fire, and his body had done that for him,) there might be danger, and he had no notion of the route to take. The hill was shelter; was it to his left, or in the direction his feet were pointing? It all depended on how much he had twisted as he fell, and there was no way of telling that now, while he was blind.

In a moment, smooth hands were touching his neck and the side of his head. "Max! Max, can you hear me?"

It was Liz's voice. "Careful!" he said. "I'm a little dizzy, and can't see just at the moment. I probably tried to shoot too much particle blaster in five seconds. Where's the hill?"

"Come on." She helped him up and led the way, bearing left of the direction he stood facing. Max could feel soft brown hair tickling his neck and collarbone, and smelled Liz's flowery perfume. By the time she sat him up against a rock face, his vision was starting to clear. "What did I miss?"

"I nearly nailed one of them with a plasma burst," Tess grumbled, "except his friend shielded at the last moment. There's only the two left now, but they're digging in behind cover, like we did. This could get messy."

"They have to take the offensive sometime," Liz said. "Like that shooting tag game. If they can't press home an attack in time, we win by default."

"Except that if they're entrenched there, they can attack Michael, Isabel, and Courtney on their way back," Tess said. "I don't like that. Maybe we can find some way of drawing them out?"

"Well, Evans killed three of them so far," Kyle pointed out. "If he breaks cover, they may take a chance on attacking him... and then he can throw up his green deflector field and Tess gets a free shot."

"Who told you about my shield, Kyle?" Max asked. "Anyway, there's one problem with that plan; I don't think my shield stops everything. If they can do a particle blast, I'll get toasted." That was something that Courtney had mentioned about the particle blasts... they were almost impossible to block. She hadn't mentioned the energy drain effect of shooting one, or maybe her power reserves were high enough to not feel the cost.

"Do you have any ideas?" Tess asked.

Max thought about it, and stood up. Already his muscles seemed strong again, (though his skin was a little sore from the tumble,) and the desert landscape around him was sharp and clear. Once more he crept around the rocky hill, scanned the terrain... and jumped back, mumbling a string of nonsense words that weren't quite profanities when a fierce stinging heat bit into his arm. Once he was safe under cover again, Max looked down at his arm... the sleeve of his shirt had been burnt in a fairly neat little circle, about as big around as his finger, and underneath the skin was red and blistered. Must have been a laser of some sort...

But Max had seen what he needed to see. "Okay, Tess, you ready to duck out and do some pickup shooting when I give you the word? I don't think they'll be paying any attention."

"Umm, okay, but I don't see..." Tess' voice trailed off.

Max concentrated on what he needed to do, focused his energy... and almost immediately he felt the same strain as before. He reached out to grab Liz's hand and felt a connection to her... but there was something deep in her mind that she was walling off, something she didn't wan to let him in to see. What was that about?

Right now was not the right time to worry about it. Max sent an impression of what he planned, and Liz threw her own effort into it, feeding him raw power and shaping the process as well as she could.

Between their free hands - Max's right and Liz's left, a ball of blue fire developed and grew. Not just flame, Max knew: this was high-energy plasma. Once the ball was big enough and hot enough, Max mentally pictured what he had seen on the other side of the rock. The two remaining skin guards had found a rough split cut into the desert floor, four and a half feet deep and a foot and a half wide, and were using this as a battle trench. As powerful as this plasma ball was, they could build a defence to block it if they had seconds to work...

Max sent the charge on its way, deliberately lofting it too high, too far, and off to one side. That way, they won't be worried until, wait for it...

Max pulled the plasma back towards the ground, altering its course sharply. If he had worked out the angle right, it would come rocketing out of the sun's glare - and here in Arizona, the sun's glare was something. There was a crash and some screams, and Tess dashed out of cover, firing a blue laser again and again. "Got 'em!"

"Yeah!" Alex called out from the rear guard, and there was a little cheering. Max wanted to sweep Liz up into his arms and kiss her, but she had made him promise not to display his affection that blatantly while Tess was around. (Sigh.) Kyle was the only one not to join in the momentary enthusiasm.

"What's bugging you, Kyle?" Max asked.

"I'm not quite sure," he admitted. "Just a sense that something is terribly wrong, that the great danger is yet to come..."

"For us?" Liz asked. "Well, if those guys weren't the real threat, then..." She scanned the landscape, and jumped in shock. Max turned to look in the same direction, and something appeared in front of his eyes.

It was a huge vehicle, wider than an Interstate lane. It might be an Army Hummer, or something of the sort. With a sick feeling in his stomach, Max traced the sequence of events... while the guards went on foot over the most direct route; this monster had driven out over a rough track leading from town into the desert... a path too bumpy for the Jeep, which they hadn't noticed. With a mind-warp and the distraction of the firefight, they'd made it into close quarters unopposed.

Several Skins were getting out of the hummer now... young men, one pretty young woman. All were carrying alien devices; probably weapons. And then there was an older, matronly woman who seemed out of place holding her blast rifle, but Max's blood ran cold. It could only be Ida Crawford - the second most dangerous skin in Copper Summit.

#

"In there."

Michael shot a look over at Isabel. "Inside?" She nodded, which shook her blonde hair. Michael shrugged. "Okay, well at least it's cover." He pulled the hover-Jeep into the structure Courtney had indicated, a large suburban garage, mostly empty with no other vehicle inside, the car door wide open. A few seconds was long enough to set the Jeep down, a sudden relief from the strain of channelling power to keep it airborne, and then Michael jumped out to hit the door control. One sharp word from Isabel stopped him from pressing it, at the last moment. "Why 'no'?" he asked.

"Because we're hiding in plain sight, captain," another voice came, from a sitting figure that Michael hadn't noticed yet. It was Courtney. "If you close the door, it'll suddenly occur to people that this is a place to search. But with the door open, who would bother? Only an idiot would hide here without closing the door."

"I think I agree," Michael said with a wry smile, coming over to crouch next to Court. She seemed to be unhurt, very tired, and had something very interesting sitting next to her.

"Of course, the double fake-out wouldn't work if the two of us weren't pumping out a low-level mental field," Isabel admitted. "For all of their discipline and organization, the Skins are a mob right now... and you can manipulate a mob easily if you know the right psychological tricks. Every stimulus you put into an individual mind gets repeated and magnified by the crowd interactions. Groupthink gone wild. Unless someone recognizes our field, no-one will look in here."

"Umm... yeah, I see," Michael saidd, still staring with strange fascination at what could only be Courtney's skin.

It looked, more than anything like a 'teenage girl' suit, like from one of those cartoon shows where a gigantic chicken unzips the chicken suit and becomes a person, and then the person unzips a person suit and becomes a bear or so on - except that there was no visible zipper. The straight blonde hair and pale pink skin seemed lifelike and healthy, (except that the skin was missing some expressive quality,) but the entire affair was obviously only a fraction of an inch thick.

The skin was dressed up in typical Courtney clothes... black t shirt, pale denim skirt, sandals and a thin gold chain around its wrist. The husk was sitting beside her, but not laid out flat, so that it folded up in several layers... lower legs, upper legs, lower torso, upper torso, head, with the arms folded separately at the sides. The 'head' was face down against the skin's upper chest, and Michael was just as glad of that now, suspecting that the sight would be far too creepy. Courtney had mentioned that she saw the world through her own eyes instead of artificial eyes that were a part of the skin... did that mean that the Husk just had eyeholes where hers popped out? What would the empty nose and mouth look like?

Something about seeing the husk that they had come for like this was disgusting to Michael... he had been coming to terms with his attraction to Courtney, but what he saw when he looked at her was the husk, and it didn't look so pretty like this. Then again, were humans or hybrids fundamentally any different except that their skins didn't come off to make the point so clearly? When he looked at Maria, he still only saw what was on the outside, her clothes, her skin, her hair, and none of these things were really attractive in and of themselves, divorced from the rest of her body.

You had to make decisions about people as a whole... and not just in terms of the physical, when it came to that. He had to weigh what he'd learned about the person inside Courtney's suit... especially in her case, since the skin deep impression was kind of a mask, not a real body that was grown from her own DNA and requiring upkeep and detailed grooming. Real skin grew and changed as its owner lived out his or her years, but Courtney's didn't - it stayed exactly as it had been designed, just like the rest of the Skins. That made it hollow, and not just in a play-on-words sense. (But still pretty, a voice inside Michael's head insisted.)

"Okay, do we have to hide here any longer?" he muttered, putting aside that whole area of speculation. "We're here now, Court, we've got... heck, we've got a hover-Jeep! And so... you want to wait until the other Skins are toast, don't you?" He could tell that much from Courtney's face.

"Yeah. Think of it this way... the panic and confusion, the mob scene out there will get twenty times as bad when the Skins feel their husks start to die, and that's our best chance for getting out of here in one piece. And if it looks like they discovered the sabotaged governor and repaired it, then I can try shooting a plasma fireball in through the doors as we zoom by. Probably the only chance we'll have in that case, and it shouldn't increase the risk much."

Michael considered it, turned to Isabel, who shrugged a little nervously, and sighed. "Okay. How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Patience, captain."

"How about you don't call me that?"

Courtney just smiled.

#

Max stared at the new Skin party. The first group had taken all the effort that he and Tess could manage to defeat, and the two of them were exhausted... their friends must be tired too. These new enemy aliens looked tougher and better prepared for a fight.

To his surprise, Kyle and Alex took only a few seconds before charging the enemy, screaming battle cries as they went.

The two Skins that his friends attacked were even more surprised than Max. For the a few seconds, they didn't even react or defend themselves, still focusing their attention on Max and Tess. _They think humans must be a distraction,_ Max realized. _That Alex and Kyle are supposed to divert their attention so Tess and I can blast their defences._ Max smiled himself... underestimating the humans was a really big mistake for the Skins, one that might tip the balance of this little war.

Max thought about reaching for Liz's hand again, to make a connection and have her power to draw on, but wasn't sure what to do with anybody's power, even his own, and he didn't want to make Liz a target until he'd figured that part out. Kyle punched one of the Skins in the face, while Alex did his best to yank the alien weapon out of another's hands. Now, the Skins began to realize that these human boys represented a threat; a different danger than they'd anticipated. One other alien joined into the melee, leaving Ida alone on her side of the staring contest, but Max figured she was intimidating enough for three aliens, and he wished that Michael and Isabel were by his side. Alex kicked his opponent in the shins, then moved away from the other alien approaching him; and Kyle had recognized the value of the blaster guns and was trying to pin one of the arms of his dancing partner. The two of them tripped against an unseen rock and tumbled, a tangle of hostility and grappling limbs, until they landed next to the fourth Skin, the girl, who wasn't so pretty when she smiled.

Alien number three lowered his rifle and pointed at Alex with his right palm - the same 'blasting posture' that Max and his friends used. Alex was trying to keep alien number two, the one he'd charged in the first place, between him and number three, but he couldn't keep that up for long. Max had to do something to help him - now.

But Max hesitated. The second he used his powers to join in the fight, Ida Crawford would make her move. Max couldn't shoot the guy who was trying to shoot Alex, and defend himself at the same time. If he attacked Ida first, she would shield, and then wait for her moment to counterattack.

Something seemed to be happening, though. Aliens three and four were looking around, suddenly frightened of something, looking for cover. The ones that Alex and Kyle were fighting with seemed oddly distracted too. Ida was aware of this panic affecting her troops, and puzzled by it. So was Max, for a moment.

And then he spotted Tess, and realized what had happened. She had bided her time, and created a convincing illusion just when nobody would question it. And she hadn't tried to deceive Ida, (who would have a strong mental defence,) but counted on her being confused for a moment when her soldiers acted strangely. For an instant, Max caught a hint of the mind-warp, or thought he did - Michael on top of the rocky hill, sitting in some giant alien weapon bigger that a battlement machine gun, firing on all the Skins.

Max smiled to himself and capitalized on the confusion by reaching out with telekinesis to wrench the alien guns away from their owners and give them to his friends. Alex took two steps back, aimed, and pressed the trigger switch. With a belch of blue energy, that alien was no more, and Alex swung the barrel and zapped number three out of existence as well. Kyle had to bash his skin in the head several times with the butt of the rifle before he could scramble free, and he hesitated before pulling the trigger. _Zzappp_!

Two left, and several seconds had passed since the guns changed hands. Kyle turned to fire at the pretty girl alien, but Max called '_No_!' just in time to stop him from firing. Kyle stepped back a few paces, still keeping his weapon pointed at the girl. Alex's was pointing vaguely toward Ida... not aimed directly because would be a direct threat, but not far from a lock either.

Max weighed the factors - but not with logic and careful analysis. Instead he felt as if he were the scale, drifting slowly to a conclusion based on the pressure around him. Ida and her little friend would be desperate and take chances now, after seeing the other three Skins destroyed so quickly. Max didn't want to do anything that could precipitate a panic counterattack, but they had to take action at some point, and do the right thing.

To begin with, Max shot a smile over to Liz and gestured that she should go over and stand with Tess. Liz was surprised at that for a few seconds, but went... she knew he wouldn't have made that call if he didn't have a good reason. In this case, Max knew he was about to do something dangerous and didn't want Liz to be at risk. She'd be as safe as possible with Tess, no matter how many unresolved issues the two girls had.

Tess was glaring fiercely at Ida now, her mind-warp power off for the moment, so Max spared only a second of attention on the older-seeming woman before turning to the young and pretty skin... her mid-auburn hair flying back and forth dramatically in a sudden desert wind. Carefully, every muscle in his body tensed for sudden movement, Max shot a low-power energy bolt at her, just to see what her reaction would be.

Something like a column of silver appeared around the girl, blocking her from view completely. Max's bolt ricocheted off the column and flew back to Max, but he was able to guide it down to blast the desert floor.

Something else streaked toward the reflective column... a steady beam of blue light. Kyle had altered his gun to fire a steady laser ray, and he was bouncing that off the edge of the column, so the reflection wouldn't come anywhere near him.

"How do you do that, Kyle?" Alex asked.

"There's a settings slider on the left of the stock," Kyle said. "Second notch from the front... a little symbol that looks like the hell-mouth head on 'Buffy'..."

"Yeah, got it." Alex smiled and fired out a beam of his own. Slowly the column contracted, so that the two guys had to adjust their aim to hit it.

Max didn't like this. "Cease fire!" His warning came just in time. As the two blue rays winked out, the column changed shape, featuring several concave arcs joined together. If the guys kept firing, their beams would have bounced off those concavities and reflected back to them, despite the 'firing off-center' trick.

It was his turn to finish this, Max realized, and took a deep breath. He narrowed his focus for the particle blast to as few molecules as possible, hoping to accelerate them with enough force that nothing in that shield could block any of them. (And even if a few reflected back, hopefully they wouldn't be enough to hurt him.) He took a deep breath and let the blast go.

The reflective pillar winked out, the pretty girl slumping before her husk and body disintegrated.

In the same moment an invisible hand shoved Max off balance, and then aa tight burst of energy shot out at Liz, who dived out of the way. Ida seemed to be having trouble finding her, and Max realized that Tess had cloaked her rival in a mind-warp of nothingness, making her invisible, the same way as she had once done it for him, and the same way as Ida had done it for the Hummer and her team.

Tess had cloaked herself as well, Max guessed, but not well enough. Grinning, Ida oriented on the spot where Tess stood, and shot a ball of plasma, roaring with energy and glowing a sickly yellow-green. Tess tried to avoid it, but she didn't have her full mobility while keeping the mind-warp up. Max put up his shield a fraction of a second too late, after the charge had already streaked through the space he was walling off, and it followed Tess, flying into her upper torso, knocking her several yards away, setting her clothes ablaze, and burning through her skin.


	9. Chapter 9

Max could only hope that Tess would be okay, that she had enough spunk to keep her alive until Max took care of Ida Crawford.

Liz was laying face first on the rocky ground, only a few steps away from Max, where she had flung herself to avoid Ida's first attack. She hadn't seen Ida burn Tess. He rushed over, caught her hand in his, and let the connection form. Instantly Liz's energy was there, supporting and reinforcing his own, a warm and reassuring presence. Remembering the last time they had touched like this, fifteen minutes ago, Max remembered that Liz had been keeping some private part of her mind sealed off from the him. Whatever that was, her mind was more open now.

And yet, Max couldn't stop to satisfy his curiosity. Partly because they were in a dangerous situation, and also because he wanted to respect Liz's privacy as much as possible in situations like this. They both got 'flashes' from the other without meaning to either send or receive those memories, which could be awkward enough. Max had to be careful not to overstep his limits in this kind of a rapport, especially with an area that she had been keeping as a private sanctum, and probably had forgotten or been unable to protect this time. For all Max knew, she was already planning him a surprise Christmas present.

While Max was distracted for a few seconds by those private thoughts, something else happened. Kyle was shooting an energy beam with the alien blaster - not at Ida, but past her; close enough to startle her and make contact with a proximity defence field, but angled off to the side so a reflection from a straight or convex shield wouldn't rebound back on Kyle.

"No, that's too risky!" Max shouted, and dropped his own shield. Deflector fields didn't have to follow those simple shapes, as the Skin girl's concave cylinders had shown. Even that wouldn't hit Kyle on the rebound, the way his beam angled down slightly, but if Ida could create a...

"**Aahhye**!" Kyle howled and dropped his weapon, burned... Max couldn't tell exactly where, on his left abdomen or hip maybe. Not as badly wounded as Tess was, but... Ida Crawford had done exactly what Max had worried about, or nearly - she had created a floating concave deflector field. Either not a perfect spherical segment or not oriented precisely, since then the return beam would have gone back into the laser's muzzle. But this had been effective enough. At least it hadn't hit Kyle's face, or upper chest, or the family jewels.

As quickly as possible, Max sent a burst of telekinetic force, strong enough to knock Ida to the ground. But, as he had suspected, Ida went on the defensive, cloaking herself in a cloud of purple energy. Since she was smart enough to learn from the failure of her comrade, Max realized that this defence had to be strong enough to bounce a particle blast back at him.

He'd have to hope that he could batter down her shield if he moved quickly. Drawing on Liz's strength, Max generated electrical energy. His white lightning didn't crack through the purple cloud at once, but Max thought he could feel Ida's defences weakening. Again and again he blasted, aware that the energy he and Liz had available was also limited. If Ida could outlast both of them, then... he refused to let himself think about that.

All of a sudden, there was a wave of sound and bright light from Ida's direction... had she launched an attack through her own shield?

No - or if so, it had backfired. There was a crater in the desert ground right behind Ida's cloud, and now the purple energy was pulsing erratically, lower and longer. Ida had fallen flat on the ground, her remaining defences moving with her. Grinning, Max shot lightning, and the cloud shuddered and strained. One more bolt blasted the cloud into wisps that evaporated in the daylight.

For a second he and Liz stared at the Skin woman... looking like somebody's grandmother who had lost her cane and taken an undignified tumble. Yet she was dangerous... incredible powers building up inside her body for a counterattack. Max's own reserves were low - he had no viable alternative but to 'finish her off.' (So much killing they'd already done...)

He was thinking how best to do the deed when Kyle, roaring with pain and fury, dashed over towards where Ida lay. He carried the heavy blaster weapon backwards now, and swung its blunt butt down into the small of Ida's back, which was easy to see the way she had fallen. Her body exploded into gritty fragments.

"Thanks guys," Liz said, and her connection with Max disappeared although his hand was still in hers.

Kyle looked up from where he sat crouched. "Tess. Max, you have to help her - the way you helped me."

Max took a breath, reminded of Tess' injury again. Of course he had to try to heal her... he might be the only one who could save her life, and she got hurt doing everything she could to protect Liz. But Max wasn't looking forward to that.

It wasn't that he wanted Tess out of his life... even after all the trouble she'd caused. But healing required an intimate connection... and the more badly hurt the subject was, or the more danger there was, the closer contact he would need to make. Max had spent months avoiding any closeness with Tess Harding, both because it made Liz a little uncomfortable, and because it encouraged Tess to get _too_ comfortable around him, in ways that he didn't like.

Still, there wasn't any choice, and her life could be slipping away while Max was sitting here angsting.

One other detail was important. "All of you; grab those guns and take cover behind the rock," he said, waving at a rifle lying on the ground, and Liz hurried over to get it. Max risked a careful look out toward town... yeah. "The guard perimeters are back, thicker on this side of town. They're not coming after us, so I think they'll attack Michael, Isabel and Court on their way back out. You have to do what you can to get them through safely. While Tess is down and I'm focusing on making sure she stays alive, we won't have any alien abilities in the fight here; just those toys."

"Don't worry about us, or the invasion team," Alex said. "We'll see them out safely. Concentrate on your own work, Healer."

"Right." Max turned to smile at Liz... and gasped as they connected again. He hadn't tried to initiate that... had Liz done it herself, or was it something that happened on its own, like the flashes?

It wasn't like any other connection Max had lived through. The desert daylight around them vanished, and he saw himself with Liz... in the Jeep, driving through the evening dusk. He recognized the scene... just minutes before they had arrived at the Gomez concert in Santa Fe.

"I know you're nervous," Liz said, her words taking a brief fraction of a heartbeat, yet easy to listen to. "Healing me was what started the two of us on our journey together... you're scared that the same thing could happen again, no matter what you feel now."

"Oh, boy." Max hadn't thought about it in those terms. Sure, he had been in love with Liz before that day in the Crashdown... but she hadn't - she'd been with Kyle. Still... "This is what I have to do now. If you and I have faith in each other and hold on, we'll be okay no matter what the world throws at us."

"Yeah, I really think we will." And then she was climbing onto his lap, (which would have been scary if he'd actually been driving,) and kissed him. It was as passionate and beautiful as any physical kiss had ever been, and it was also more.

The connection dropped, and Max realized that Liz had added her energy reserves to his... not working together while the connection was open to accomplish a goal, but drawing on her reserve fuel to replenish his. Max's own power had been tested to its limits again and again this afternoon, and he'd need more power, better 'Balance' to make sure that curing Tess would work. Liz had helped him on a few things, but she'd been able to spare some of her own human energy; she wouldn't need much to keep guard and fire a weapon. He smiled at the sacrifice she'd made, and hurried over to where Tess lay.

She was in bad shape - her clothes and hair charred, skin scarred and scabbed, pulling away from the flesh underneath, and Max's stomach lurched. Tess' fingernails caught his attention, showing green and blue in a way that he suspected wasn't a inhuman reaction to similar injuries. He knelt down next to her and got to work... cooling the burnt skin and the air around Tess, then stretching his hands out, an inch from her torso.

Courtney's connection techniques came in useful here. Rather than looking into Tess' swollen eyes, or touching her fragile skin, Max simply concentrated and her body was linked to his. There was a lot to do... severe heat damage inside Tess' brain and internal organs first, and then reconstruction on the surface flesh and skin. In the disconnected time of his healing trance, it took over an hour.

Max got images and memories from Tess' mind... and they hadn't been what he had expected. A brief impression of coming out of the pod, all alone... of letting someone into the pod chamber and leaving with him. Somewhat clearer memories and scenes of growing up, in a couple of different cities... of Nasedo taking care of her, but also training her in taking care of herself in ways that would have been unusual for a human child so young. As soon as he thought she was ready, Nasedo was leaving her alone for hours and then days, telling her when he'd be back, where to go and what to say in case of an emergency, but never what he was doing.

It had been lonely and scary for Tess to grow up like that, Max realized as he was trying to restore some muscles near her stomach. She had been like any other little girl, except not sure of where she came from... wanting reassurance and security and a place to belong as much as Max and Isabel had in the first few years with their parents. Nasedo hadn't known how to give her any of that, or hadn't cared. He'd taken care of Tess' physical and practical needs, but her emotional wants had been blank to him... because he didn't have that kind of emotional awareness? Or because Nasedo had repressed all his emotions other than hate and anger, the ones that would help him carry on his war against the special unit?

As far as that went... why had Nasedo stepped into the role of Tess' father himself? He could have placed her into social services in some far distant state and made sure that she'd be safe and well treated. That would have given him more time for his own missions. Except... maybe he thought that it was important to train one of them in using their alien powers. And he'd chosen Tess because she'd emerged from the chamber last, because she hadn't gone off and found people but waited for him to come and find her.

Max didn't find any answers, and the work of healing got more difficult as his energy reserves drained again... but suddenly he was done. A few scars and rough patches remained, but Tess could deal with those herself once she had a free moment. The rest of her skin was smooth and healthy once again. Max hadn't restored the burnt hair... that was dead matter, not heal-able per se, but he'd taken a moment to cut it off, so that what hair remained was still pale gold, much too short in places, uneven and ragged. Tess groaned, sat up, and blushed, realizing that her burnt clothes had fallen away with her movement. Max looked away to avoid getting an eyeful.

"Oh. " Tess waved a hand at the pile of stuff that Michael had taken out of the Jeep, and a blanket flew up into the air and towards her... the same blanket that Max had kissed Liz on, lying under the stars that incredible night out in the desert, when they'd found the alien Orb. Tess kept the blanket covering her as she sat up, and it morphed and changed a tunic-dress. "Don't worry; I'll get you a new one. What's the situation?"

"We got action," Kyle called. He was the closest to Max and Tess. "Michael just started his run in the hover-Jeep... looks like Courtney is giving him a defence field. There are two lines of enemies in the middle, total nine Skins."

"I should join in," Tess said, getting up and hurrying to Kyle. "Distract and deceive."

"Sure you're up for it?" Max asked, smiling at her. "That was a serious hit you took."

"I feel fine; you do good work, doc. Now it's time for me to do my part."

Max was exhausted enough that he lost track of time after that. The next thing he remembered clearly was Liz hugging him. Max looked around and saw that the Jeep was back, and Michael was starting to get ready to put its wheels back on and so forth. Isabel was sitting in the back seat, and Max waved at his sister, but she kept staring straight ahead, not moving. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure," Courtney said. "She didn't get like that until we were out of town." Max leaned closer, and saw that there was a pale film over her eyes. "She worked really hard, distracting the Skins who were looking for us, and..."

"She's overspent her power," Liz said, her face paling again with shock. "Umm... the healing stones?"

"Dammit, I knew there was something we forgot," Tess muttered under her breath. Max saw Kyle move an awkward bundle from the Jeep into the trunk of Tess' car.

"Your skin?" Max asked Courtney, and she jumped a little in surprise at the change of subject, and nodded. "Did you ruin the rest of them?"

"Yeah, so we'd better get the hell out of here, by an unexpected route," she suggested. "I'm worried about Isabel, but we're all going to be in trouble if we don't..." She cut off, surprised by something.

Without speaking, Alex had come over to where Isabel sat, leaned against her quiet body and put his arms around her. To Max's astonishment, there was a shining golden radiance that surrounded both of them for a few seconds, and Isabel stirred, shaking her head. When she looked up towards Alex and Max, her eyes were clear again.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice sounding scratchy and rough.

"You pushed it too close," Max said. "Maybe we all did, but the job is done. Let's boot it."

#

There was no sign of pursuit or counterattack as both cars found their way to the interstate, and they gathered round the concrete field next to a gas station in Lebanon Arizona, as Liz called in to tell Maria that everyone was all right, that the mission was over, and to ask if Maria had anything to tell them.

Liz hung up. "Well?" Michael asked.

"We missed some interesting TV while fighting for our lives," she said. "When the county bailiffs finally got to the funeral service... I think Greer torched Whittaker's husk right there, but the commentators are saying that the supposed spontaneous combustion of her last remains was a hoax. It shouldn't cause any trouble for us."

"What about... about our parents?" Isabel asked.

"She couldn't say much," Liz said. "None of them wanted to talk to her, simply because they knew that she was spying for us. You might try calling mister Valenti, since he talked about becoming an inside man with the other parents... but anyway. "

"We should start heading back home... it's a long drive," Alex said.

"We've been at this a long time," Kyle said. "Stopping at a motel somewhere to rest... not a full eight hours even, it wouldn't be the worst idea."

"We'll see." Max nodded. "By the way, Kyle, how's that laser burn? I could look at it for you, if you..."

"No." The word was sharp enough to startle everybody. "No offense, Max, but as long as it isn't a question of life or death, you know, just keep out. It hurts a little; I'll get better with time. This is nothing for you to worry about."

Max took a moment, deciding whether to try again, then shrugged and let it go. "Do we stay in the same cars?" They had made an impromptu switch when hurrying away from Copper Summit... Isabel had been already in the Jeep and still a little dazed, while Courtney wanted to stay near her hard-won trophy, her replacement skin sitting in Tess' trunk, so Michael had gone with Courtney, Kyle and Tess in the SUV, and Alex had joined Max and Liz, and Isabel. Max was quite happy with his Jeep-mates... they were the group he had decided was 'too comfortable' to head out on this mission with, but right now some comfort was what he needed.

"Yeah, this is working out alright," Michael said. "Stop again in Lordsburg?"

"Unless we page you," Liz told him.

#

They didn't end up stopping at a motel; everyone was tired enough to start falling asleep in the cars, (except for the people who were driving, and they coped by switching off.) At eleven that evening, Alex drove through Hondo, Isabel keeping him company in the passenger seat and Max and Liz snoozing away in the back seat. They were zooming through relatively familiar territory now - Hondo.

"You didn't know that you could snap me out of it like that?" Isabel asked Alex for the second time. "You just, what, wanted to hold me?"

"I'm still not quite convinced that I _did_ anything, no matter what the others think they saw," Alex said with a smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Isabel nodded, and there was a moment of silence. "I think once we get back to Roswell, you and I won't be able to stay in the 'commitment-free' zone any more."

Alex opened his mouth, but for an embarrassingly long moment nothing came out, until he tried again. "Any idea what'll happen then?"

"Not really. One of us has to make the first move, coming out and saying what they want. I'm willing to do that, I think... but it'll take me a few days to figure out what to say. If you beat me to it, you're welcome to go first; I'll be listening closely."

Alex smiled, and drove on.

#

Curled up amongst the covers, Tess reached out and stroked her fingers across Kyle's chest. "Ohhh... that was just the thing. You were... do you know how long I've been waiting? To be able to take our time and make it great?"

Kyle hummed softly for a moment. "Since we left here, Saturday morning?"

Tess picked up a spare pillow and thumped him on the back of the head. "Not quite that long I guess... and thank you so very much for Ed McMahon-ing me."

They lay like that for about a minute, and then Tess broke the silence again. "I should apologize again... about how I acted when all of this stuff with Courtney and Copper Summit came up. I threw a hissy fit and now I wish I hadn't. I'm glad you came, that you were there. You handled yourself well, and..." She shook her head. "I'm glad you were there, looking out for me."

Kyle thought about it a moment, and nodded. "Yeah... it's a good thing I was."

She looked into his eyes. "How does your hip feel?"

"It's not too bad. The burning soreness has faded, which is a good sign, but now my skin is itching _really_ badly and that's driving me nuts."

Tess pulled herself up, smiling a little. "Do you want me to see if I can do anything to help? I'm not a healer like Max, but I have a little talent when it comes to skin... unless your manly pride forbears."

"The macho line I gave Max in Arizona? Nah - I didn't want him to heal me because it would've freaked me out, you know - reminded me of nearly dying the last time. If you can help, go ahead."

So Tess took a look at the fading blister on Kyle's hip, and passed her fingers over the red skin, until the color faded and blended in with the rest of his healthy tan. As gently as possible, she stroked the skin, watching Kyle for any sign of discomfort, but he smiled at her.

"Doesn't itch a bit," he said, and shifted his weight forward, sweeping Tess up in his arms. They landed entwined on the other side of the bed. "Maybe you could look out for me too. Next time, or whatever."

Tess smiled. "Count on it." Then she yawned. "We'd better start getting ready for classes."

"What's the hurry? I don't want to be on time homeroom." Kyle bent down and kissed Tess' earlobe, his lips stimulating the skin there in ways that Tess couldn't think of words to describe.

One thought did penetrate her brain as it fogged up with passion. "It's a while yet before homeroom, Kyle. Do you think you can make us late with just one more go-round?" And she giggled.

"Oh, just watch me, babe." And his hands played over her body like it was an instrument.

#

"Thanks for asking," the blonde girl said. "There wasn't any efficient way to feed the Husk than through its interface to an Antarian metabolism, so I changed into it as soon as you guys dropped me off last night." She sighed. "And ate as much as I could right after - anything I had that was high in vitamins, protein, and energy. This is the new me - Courtney Brooks version two point oh." She spun around. "Can you tell the difference?"

Michael look at her carefully before answering. Courtney was wearing the same outfit that she had been to the first big confab in, Sunday morning - black shirt, long jean skirt, but something did seem different about her. (No evidence that she'd been eating much - husk metabolism must work fast.) There was more excitement in her face, something relaxed in the way she moved... was that because of the new Husk? A change in Courtney's mood because of the successful mission, or maybe a difference in Michael's perception because he'd gotten to know her better?

There was no way to be sure. "I don't know," he said, "but you look okay, certainly. How does it feel?"

Courtney stretched her arms above her head. "Really great; it fits as well as my own real skin. The old one used to feel this way, until eight years ago."

Michael nodded. "That still seems weird to me... that when I was seven... as far back as I can remember, you've looked exactly like this. How long do Antarians live?"

"Well it depends on a lot of things. It's not unusual for some of our people to reach a hundred and fifty Earth years. But while we're joined with a Husk, it affects our metabolism and cellular biology, slowing down the aging process... for as long as the Husks last."

Michael nodded. "Well, we stopped the Harvest and got your new Skin, without letting Nicholas or anyone know for sure who was helping you. But they'll try something in Roswell soon, and considering that a bunch of my friends got grounded for skipping school, then you, me, and Tess will have to pick up the slack on guard duty."

Courtney nodded. "I'm used to watching for danger all the time... since you guys really helped me out, I'd be happy to do that on your behalf. There's something else I wanted to tell you about, but it's weird and I'm not sure how to start."

Michael waited for a few seconds, but Courtney didn't continue. "Umm... that kiss you gave me, just before heading into deep danger?"

"Well, not quite so specific." She sat down, and Michael realized that her face was flushed pink, which seemed to be an extremely human reaction. "Okay. I know I flirted with you while I was still undercover... when neither of us really knew for sure who the other was."

"As if we really know that much about each other now," Michael said under his breath, but when Courtney looked up, it was clear from the look on his face that he'd meant the words lightly.

"Point taken... but speaking generally: I know that you're the hybrid successor of Rath, and you know that I'm an Antarian secret agent with an unusual loyalty." She sighed. "I never... I didn't expect to have personal feelings for Rath... for you - when I found you."

Michael smiled awkwardly. "Personal feelings... do Antarians deal with them the same way that humans do? I mean, the only full alien I've spent much time with before you was Nasedo - 'Slimeballs.'" He laughed as he used Courtney's nickname for the tactless shape-shifter. "He didn't seem to be anything like humans in the way he handled relationships, even with Tess and with us."

"No, he wouldn't," Court agreed. "But he wasn't really our kind. We're not that different from humans, Michael. From Kivar up on his ill-gotten throne to the poorest young woman begging in the streets... or fighting for those who support the old Royals. We fall in love, and love falls apart on us, whether we take it for granted or do all that we can to nourish it. We have sex appeal, we do stupid things when blinded by lust; we cherish our children and do what we can to protect them. We're a more like humans than most of us want to admit, deep down."

Michael nodded, and took the plunge. "You're attracted to me?" There was a pause, and Courtney nodded. "You said you didn't expect to have feelings for the new Rath..." Michael paused, wondering if he would like the answer to this next question. "What can you tell me about him? About his history, his family, all of that - you must have known quite a lot about him before you decided he was the right person to stop a civil war. We have a few notions about who Max and Isabel used to be, the prince turned king and the princess daughter - but Tess and I are less uncertain. Depending on the social climate, just about anybody might get engaged to a princess."

Courtney chuckled. "Well, Rath was... not from a noble family, but a 'respectable' family. His mother was a well-known scholar, an economic theorist... not a court retainer, but someone that the old king... Max's father, back then... someone he would summon for a consultation frequently. That was how Rath became part of a social group set up for the children of the royal family to have peers and schoolmates without exposing them to much danger - along with the children of court retainers, higher-ranking members of the Royal Guard, and high-born nobles from other lands and planets. He would have been maybe twelve in human terms when rumours spread about the amazing foursquare that they could generate. I don't know that much about his private life, but..."

"No, that's okay, it gives me a bit of what I want to know," Michael said. Hearing even rumours about how Rath had won Vilandra's troth in marriage was not what he wanted to hear at that moment.

"Human faces still look funny to me," Courtney continued, "even after all these years. Mine, yours, any of them. But I can see past _your_ skin now, to a steadfast heart and poetic soul. I... I want to explore this connection we have, if you feel anything at all for me. And I kinda want you to teach me about love, human-style, if you're up for it."

Michael blinked. "I've only been in one romantic relationship, and getting it right 'human-style' was never something I was good at," he admitted. "But yeah, I think I'm willing to give us a shot."

"Okay. Seal it with a kiss?"

"Umm... maybe we should save that for another time. Start off with something slow and very traditional... dinner and a movie tonight? Kissing after the movie, if it goes well."

Courtney nodded, and Michael let the thought running around inside his head stay unspoken: 'What do I tell Maria about this?'

#

"So, one day down, and a week to go," Max said into the phone, smiling. "It could have been worse."

"Yeah." The confrontation with her parents after they had gotten back home was a hazy blur in Liz's mind, and she had been worried that they'd ship her off to reform school or forbid her from having anything more to do with Max and 'his friends.' A week and a day's grounding seemed light punishment for what they'd been through, and all four of them had gotten the same sentence - Liz, Max, Isabel and Alex. "I think they deliberately let us have a little time to get ready for the big dance next week."

Max paused. "Will we actually be able to go together?"

"Let's wait a little while before worrying about that, okay Max?" Liz hated that she had to stall him like this. "See what things look like next week. We'll both have enough to keep us busy until then."

"Okay," Max said. "I wanted to thank you, for everything you've done to help so far. I don't think we'd have managed this without you - any of it."

"Well, thanks I guess." Liz sighed. "I'm just glad that you and I are... well, even though we can't be a couple in public - I love you so much, Max, and I'm glad that we've have as much together as we do."

"Me too," Max agreed. "I love you, I love you, I love you." Just as Liz was opening her mouth to ask something, he added. "I even love saying it!" And that set her off giggling.

"Max, you're a total goofus, but somehow you make it seem sweet."

"Part of my charm," he muttered. "I can't wait to see you at school tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said, and giggled. "Goodnight."

"Good night, and sweet dreams my love."

Liz switched off the phone. There was an email waiting on her computer, and she leaned down awkwardly to read it off the screen.

"Liz: I've been thinking about it, and I think you need to tell Max about FM. Things may seem perfect now, but if you wait too long to come clean with the whole truth, he's going to be hurt. Find a way, and soon. -Alex."

Liz frowned slightly, deleted the message so there was no chance of someone else coming across it, and went over to the dresser to fetch her flannel pyjamas.


End file.
